Posted on March 28, 2008 by Fiona Hilliard

If you’re an Argus Car Hire customer flying into or out of London’s Heathrow Airport today, prepare yourself for prolonged delays following the cancellation of more than 30 flights yesterday due to baggage problems at the airport’s brand new Terminal 5 building. 

Some passengers were even forced to sleep overnight in the hope of catching a flight today. 

British Airways, the airline based at Terminal 5, was forced to apologise to passengers for the disruption.  Just 80% of the airline’s flights will operate from the terminal today, with delays affecting most short haul services.  However, long haul flights are not expected to be disrupted today. 

Yesterday 34 flights were cancelled and passengers had to wait up to four hours to collect baggage. 

Commenting on the backlash from yesterday’s Terminal 5 disaster, British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh had this to say:
“We sincerely apologise to those customers who have suffered disrupted journeys or baggage delays during the first day in Terminal 5.
We always knew the first day would represent a unique challenge.  A number of early problems grew during the course of the day which led to significant disruption for our customers.  I would like to thank our colleagues at BAA who are working alongside us to resolve the issues.”

 Concerned passengers are advised to check the Heathrow and British Airways websites for updates.