Holiday hell as British Airways has another IT meltdown and 500 flights are axed over weekend 

British Airways cancelled or delayed more than 500 flights over the weekend after suffering its biggest IT meltdown for years.

The flagship carrier scrapped 65 flights yesterday, with 188 more held up.

This was on top of the 187 cancellations on Saturday – more than a third of scheduled flights – with a further 151 delayed.

It meant there were more cancellations at Heathrow, where BA mostly operates from, than at any other airport in the world.

If Friday’s cancellations and delays are included, more than 600 flights have been disrupted, according to flight data analysis.

It came at the worst time for BA, with bookings at their highest since the start of the pandemic after the UK and most European countries ditched Covid traveller tests for fully vaccinated holidaymakers. 

The issue first emerged last Tuesday, but BA failed to get it under control, leaving thousands in the lurch. Some complained of being stranded abroad while others had breaks cancelled at the 11th hour.

Passengers at Heathrow Airport T5, London, as an IT meltdown caused havoc with British Airways flights on Saturday. The issue continued for passengers on Sunday

Furious customers flooded social media with complaints yesterday, branding BA’s customer service ‘appalling’. 

They also complained of not being offered re-routing options and waiting hours for luggage.

Last night the airline said it had been working ‘around the clock’ to fix the IT issues, but gave no explanation. 

It said the failure was not a global issue and involved a problem with its online check-in service. It denied being the victim of a cyber attack.

Traveller Martin Findlay posted on Twitter: ‘What a chaotic weekend for @British_Airways. Now leaving Salzburg 28 hours late & they’ve even squeezed people into the middle seats in Business Class to repatriate as many as possible. A fun week ahead for the #BA compensation system.’ 

In a letter handed to customers at Heathrow, the airline said: ‘We know this is an unforgivable situation and apologies don’t go far enough to express our regret.’ In August 2019 BA cancelled more than 100 flights from both Heathrow and Gatwick due to an IT glitch.

In 2018 it was fined £20million after hackers compromised nearly 500,000 individuals’ data. 

And in 2017 it suffered another IT failure over the May bank holiday weekend, costing IAG, BA’s owner, nearly £80million. BA said: ‘We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience our customers have experienced.’