British Airways has cancelled all flights from Londonâs Heathrow and Gatwick airports today because of a âmajor IT system failureâ.
The carrier earlier announced the cancellation of all flights before 6pm due to the failure which it said was causing very severe disruption to our flight operations worldwideâ.
The airline earlier today apologised to travellers for an âIT systems outageâ which had led to passengers complaining of âhuge queuesâ at check-in along with problems using the airlineâs website and app.
Passengers have been told not to travel to the London airports because of âextreme congestionâ at the terminals.
A spokeswoman for the airline said: âWe have experienced a major IT system failure that is causing very severe disruption to our flight operations worldwide.â
BA added: âWeâve found no evidence that itâs a cyber attack.
âThe terminals at Heathrow and Gatwick have become extremely congested and we have cancelled all flights from Heathrow and Gatwick before 6pm UK time today, so please do not come to the airports,â the airline continued.
âWe are extremely sorry for the inconvenience this is causing our customers and we are working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.â
BA later cancelled all flights on Saturday.
Travellers have been told to check the airline website and twitter account for updates about the situation. Many expressed frustrations over the outage on social media.
The delays came as scores of Britons headed overseas for the long weekend and half-term school holidays on Saturday morning.
The airline has experienced issues with its online check-in systems in the past.
Passengers were hit by severe delays in September and July last year because of IT glitches.
The latest problem meant parts of BAâs website were unavailable and some travellers were unable check in on the mobile app.
Melissa Davis, who runs a legal PR agency in London, was held for more than an hour and a half on the tarmac at Heathrow, on a BA flight returning from Belfast.
Speaking from the plane, Davis said the air conditioning had been off âso I donât think we will be going anywhere any time soonâ, but added that the passengers had been kept informed by their pilot and given water while they remained seated.
She later said she and others were then told they could not transfer to other flights because âthey canât bring up our detailsâ.
Henry Tail, a 27-year-old teacher from London, claimed he had missed his flight to Rome because of the technical problems.
âI checked in online using the BA app at 8.15 for my flight at 9.25, then went and had breakfast,â he told the Press Association.
âAt some point, the app restarted and when I went to go through security, I couldnât log in to my booking to get my QR code.
âThis meant I couldnât go through security, and by the time Iâd gone back and forth to various customer service desks, the flight had closed,â he said.
Gareth Wharton, also at Heathrow Terminal 5, tweeted a picture of BA staff writing gate information on a whiteboard amid the systems outage.
âGets worse, #T5 staff having to put gate info up on a white board #LowFi #Heathrow,â he tweeted.
Passengers at Gatwick Airport faced chaotic scenes and long queues due to a baggage system problem on Friday.
Those taking flights were forced to travel without their hold bags and were asked to carry any essential items in their hand luggage.
Heathrow said it has posted extra staff at the terminals and warned BA passengers on flights before 6pm not to go to the airport.
Dan Power said he and his 80-year-old grandmother are stranded at Heathrow, waiting for a flight to Milan, and have had no information from BA.
He told BBC News they have been offered âabsolutely nothingâ in the way of refreshments and added: âWe havenât been offered any chairs, any water, any vouchers - nothing.
âI donât think our weekâs holiday will happen at this rate.
âMy main concern now is I donât want my 80-year-old grandma spending the night on Heathrow floor - but all the hotels are fully booked, we donât have any transport back up north, so we are actually stuck in Heathrow with nowhere to go.â
Several passengers at Heathrow told the Press Association they had not been informed their flights had been cancelled until more than an hour after the airline put out a press statement announcing the decision.
Images posted to social media showed a group of people gathered around the customer services desk at Heathrowâs Terminal 5 trying to get information.
Shortly after the statement was released, Terry Page, 28, from London, said: âThereâs no such announcement here. The boards are showing âGo to gateâ and no mention of cancellations.â
More than an hour later, he said cancellations of individual flights were still being announced.
âTheyâve announced them 30 minutes apart - I think to prevent panic and mass exit,â he suggested.