IT experts have been called in to address the problems
with the baggage system at Heathrow'sTerminal 5.
They have been working on technical glitches while hundreds of
volunteers work to clear a huge backlog of baggage. The IT
problems began last Thursday when Heathrow's Terminal 5 opened
and baggage-handlers experienced logging-in problems. By Friday, a
fifth of flights had been cancelled and bags were being
processed manually.
British Airways (BA) said "a large number" of IT staff from BA,
airport owners the British Airports Authority (BAA) and BAA
sub-contractors were working on correcting the problems with the
system. BAA were unable to say at this stage exactly what the
technical problems were and both companies said they were unsure
how long it would take IT staff to complete their work. The system
they were working on is a
2D barcode system designed by BAA with IBM and Dutch company
Vanderlande.
A BA spokesperson said, "they will be there for as long as
necessary. Our key focus at the moment is on the misplaced
bags".
Fifty out of 392 short haul flights were cancelled on Tuesday 1
April at the terminal, meaning 87% of services are running
normally. The airline is decreasing the number of services it
cancels each day, with plans to operate 92% of the flight programme
by Thursday 3 April. Most long haul flights are still leaving from
terminal 4 and plans to move them to terminal 5 on 30 April are
unaffected, BA said.
The airline said on its website, "due to the disruption to the
baggage system in Terminal 5 on Thursday 27 March it may take us
several days to process baggage as we have to process each bag
manually.
"We understand how frustrating this is. We are very sorry for
the inconvenience caused.
"The move to terminal 5 is one of the biggest and most complex
airport moves ever undertaken. We are working hard, together with
airport operator BAA, to resolve the issues as quickly as
possible."