PASSENGERS have left “waiting hours” at Heathrow Airport after an “IT outage” caused travel chaos.
Stranded passengers claim they were stuck on planes and left travelling home without luggage on Tuesday night.
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Brit Richard White, 59, told The Sun of how he was stuck on his flight for an hour at the airport.
He said: “So we were on the runway for over an hour after we landed. The pilot wanted passengers to keep their seatbelts on because we could move any moment.
“The problem was that a lot of people needed the toilet. At one point the pilot had to move the plane at short notice, when some people were in the toilet. It really was very difficult.”
He added: “We were fine because we only had hand baggage. But we saw a lot of people getting very upset waiting for their cases. It looked a mess.”
Videos posted on social media showed chaotic scenes in the baggage area at the airport with endless queues of travellers.
Richard, based in Copenhagen, said there were chaotic scenes in the T5 baggage area.
Taking to X, one passenger wrote: “Chaos at Heathrow terminal 5. No information. IT system down. We waited one and a half hours for baggage and are now on our way home without bags.
“We have to claim and have them delivered. Information would have been good – no one to say what was happening.”
Another added: “Hey @HeathrowAirport Where’s my baggage? Been waiting at terminal 5 for BA929 luggage from Tirana, but nothing has been delivered. You’ve made a weird announcement that we’ve got to wait for 2 hours before we can fill in a form. WHAT’S HAPPENING?”
One traveller posted a message which appeared to have sent out to travellers at Heathrow.
It read: “We’re sorry to inform you that due to a technical issue with our baggage allocation systems at Heathrow we can’t guarantee that your bags will have travelled with you.
“We have sent you an email with information. “Another customer shared a message which read: “what a complete disaster our return from Cyprus.
“Bumped from seats booked and paid for so that’s my legroom gone, then 30 mins to a stand no luggage, I can go to A@E for my meditation, my luggage may be delivered in 2 to 3 days, or can drive back.”
The incident comes days after a major outage at Manchester Airport plunged flights into chaos.
A Heathrow spokesperson said: “We are supporting British Airways with a technical issue with their Allocation System.
“We advise passengers to check with BA before travelling to the airport.
“BA passengers in Terminals 5 may be impacted, and are advised to contact BA for assistance. No other airline is impacted.”