LONDON (AP) - The Latest on British Airways flight stalled by IT failure (all times local):
4:40 p.m.
British Airways says it is canceling all of its flights from London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports for the rest of the day because of a “major IT system failure.”
BA has not said what is causing the computer problem, but says it has no evidence of a cyberattack.
The airline had earlier suspended flights up to 6 p.m. (1700 GMT) because the two airports had become severely congested.
The global computer failure has caused misery for tens of thousands of travelers on a key holiday weekend in Britain. Both airports - major hubs for worldwide travel - are overflowing with stranded, frustrated passengers.
Passengers at Heathrow reported long lines at check-in counters and the failure of the airline’s website and mobile app. BA says the problems have also affected call centers.
BA says it’s working to restore services beginning Sunday, although there will still be some disruption. It says it expects London-bound flights to land on schedule on Sunday.
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1:20 p.m.
British Airways has canceled all flights from London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports as a global IT failure causes severe disruption for travelers.
The airline says it has suffered a “major IT systems failure.”
BA says terminals at Heathrow and Gatwick have become extremely congested and it is cancelling all flights from the airports until 6 p.m. (1700GMT). It is urging passengers not to go to the airports.
Earlier, passengers at Heathrow reported long lines at check-in counters and flight delays.
BA has not said what is causing the computer problem, but says it is working to resolve it as quickly as possible.
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12:10 p.m.
Air travelers faced delays Saturday because of a worldwide computer systems failure at British Airways, the airline said.
BA apologized in a statement for what it called an “IT systems outage” and said it was working to resolve the problem. It said in a tweet that the problem is global.
Passengers at Heathrow Airport reported long lines at check-in counters and flight delays. One posted a picture on Twitter of BA staff writing gate numbers on a white board.
“We’ve tried all of the self-check-in machines. None were working, apart from one,” said Terry Page, booked on a flight to Texas. “There was a huge queue for it and it later transpired that it didn’t actually work, but you didn’t discover that until you got to the front.”
The problem comes on a holiday weekend, when thousands of Britons are travelling.
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