Hundreds of travellers from London Heathrow to the UAE were among those stranded overnight as chaos overtook the British airport on Wednesday. Flights by British Airways to Dubai were delayed for more than three hours due to problems with a supplier’s IT systems, the airline said.
A number of British Airways flights were cancelled or being delayed by several hours at Heathrow’s Terminal 5, according to the airport’s departure board. The 10.25pm BA105 flight was put back to 4pm on Thursday, along with flights to Dubai run by Aer Lingus and Iberia.
“We are working with our supplier to resolve the matter and are sorry for the disruption to our customers’ travel plans,” British Airways said in a statement.
The airline confirmed to The National that all passengers on the 10.25pm flight would either have been put up in a hotel in the environs of the airport, or, failing that, that all passengers would be recompensed for finding accommodation further afield and would be provided transport to and from the airport to enable them to make their flight to Dubai on Thursday.
The carrier suffered a massive computer system failure in May 2017, caused by a power supply issue near Heathrow, which stranded 75,000 customers over a busy holiday weekend.
Its chief executive said at the time it would take steps to ensure such an incident never happened again.
Travel journalist Alex Macheras said on Twitter that the airline had confirmed their flights were the only ones affected, although this appears to not just be an issue for the carrier:
Passengers at the airport on Wednesday described chaotic scenes as people tried to catch flights and complained there was a lack of information from the airline.
Twitter user World in 80 Dives told a forlorn tale of waiting for BA105 to leave while facing multiple delays before its eventual postponement to Thursday. Speaking to the British Airways help team, he noted at 8.51pm local time:
After being reassured that the flight would be leaving soon, he was hit by another delay:
His wait continued:
Finally he discovered that the flight was postponed and voiced frustrations no doubt shared by many:
Lydia, another Twitter user, pointed out that passengers who had already crossed through to the flight side of Heathrow airport were being forced to return through immigration before they could even find their way to a hotel:
Traveller Jack Darby complained on Twitter that British Airways had failed passengers grounded overnight: “A system failure should not prevent you picking up the phone to find hotels and transport for your passengers. Plenty of customers including me in for a night at Heathrow because there are no free hotels within your travel allowance. You should ashamed”.
“Utter chaos at LHR, no communication, no emergency processes and no clue,” one passenger Dominic Hill said on Twitter.
Andy McGurk also posted on the social media platform, saying “Hearing about another #BritishAirways IT meltdown at #Heathrow... cutting costs on essentials like IT inevitably lead to brand damaging issues like this.”
A number of flights at the airport were earlier disrupted after a control tower was evacuated because of a fire alarm.
“We apologise for any inconvenience that this has caused,” a spokeswoman said. “Emergency services responded using our regular safety procedures, and our operations have started to resume.”
Qosty Byogaani
Starring: Hani Razmzi, Maya Nasir and Hassan Hosny
Four stars
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Profile of RentSher
Started: October 2015 in India, November 2016 in UAE
Founders: Harsh Dhand; Vaibhav and Purvashi Doshi
Based: Bangalore, India and Dubai, UAE
Sector: Online rental marketplace
Size: 40 employees
Investment: $2 million
North Pole stats
Distance covered: 160km
Temperature: -40°C
Weight of equipment: 45kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 0
Terrain: Ice rock
South Pole stats
Distance covered: 130km
Temperature: -50°C
Weight of equipment: 50kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300
Terrain: Flat ice
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl, 48V hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: Dh289,000
Company profile
Company name: Dharma
Date started: 2018
Founders: Charaf El Mansouri, Nisma Benani, Leah Howe
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: TravelTech
Funding stage: Pre-series A
Investors: Convivialite Ventures, BY Partners, Shorooq Partners, L& Ventures, Flat6Labs
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Personalities on the Plate: The Lives and Minds of Animals We Eat
Barbara J King, University of Chicago Press
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Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
How it works
A $10 hand-powered LED light and battery bank
Device is operated by hand cranking it at any time during the day or night
The charge is stored inside a battery
The ratio is that for every minute you crank, it provides 10 minutes light on the brightest mode
A full hand wound charge is of 16.5minutes
This gives 1.1 hours of light on high mode or 2.5 hours of light on low mode
When more light is needed, it can be recharged by winding again
The larger version costs between $18-20 and generates more than 15 hours of light with a 45-minute charge
No limit on how many times you can charge
