BRITISH Airways flights have been canceled after an IT glitch left passengers stranded on the runway and pilots “in the dark”.
Tourists were hit by a “global outage” on Monday night – which affected flights across Europe.
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Several British Airways flights grounded due to IT breakdown Credit: Getty
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The British Airways website also went down
Passengers were stuck on the plane waiting for clearance to take off, while others stood in the cold waiting to board their flights.
Phone lines are believed to be down and the pilots said they were “in the dark” about when they would be able to take off, The Times reported.
Many tourists also faced long delays waiting at the baggage claim area.
The problem was reportedly caused by an IT error around 5pm that affected the company’s software.
This meant pilots could not store flight plans electronically and as a result had to call Heathrow Airport manually.
The airline’s website was also down, and external and internal phone lines were down.
Many passengers took to social media and criticized the airline for its lack of communication.
Nick Ellis, an IT exec, told MailOnline: “The lack of communication is a disgrace. I am very angry. Now I have to stay in a hotel I imagine and I will miss important work meetings.”
“It’s terrible. I’m really angry. I’m tired and really annoyed.”
Another passenger said: “Looks like British Airways has had a major IT outage… again.
“Flight currently grounded, captain currently furious. Sass is flying at about 45,000 feet while giving a fantastic passive aggressive update.”
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Ulrik Bengtsson told The Sun: “I’m on the plane in Johannesburg. They don’t have any communication systems working.
“All the planes around the world are grounded. I can’t even contact headquarters.”
Another said: “What a mess three flights canceled this month and now forced to stand on tarmac in very cold Verona waiting for already delayed flight.
“What happened to the national airline? It’s not fit for purpose.”
The issue was resolved last night, with a BA spokesman saying: “Our teams have been working hard to resolve the issue we experienced briefly earlier this evening.
“We apologized to customers for the delay in their flights and ensured they were able to reach their destinations as scheduled.”
Emergency flight posted on X: “British Airways has lost all communications with aircraft across Europe due to an IT failure.
“Flights will be managed by Heathrow air traffic control to bring incoming flights back to base.”
A BA spokesman said earlier: “Our flights are currently operating but there are delays as our teams work to resolve a technical issue affecting some of our systems.”
A spokesman for Heathrow Airport said: “We are aware of the technical issue that British Airways is investigating and will work with them to provide passengers with updated information as soon as it becomes available.
“Systems at Heathrow are operating normally.”
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Some passengers were stranded on the runway last night Credit: X/Sockmonkey1971
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