Heathrow chaos as ‘technical issue’ leaves passengers not knowing gate numbers
Heathrow Airport is experiencing a 'technical issue' that has left thousands of passengers not knowing the gate numbers for their flights.
Staff are reportedly being forced to use white boards to inform passengers about the details of their journey.
Numerous airlines have been hit by the glitch, including British Airways, which operates hundreds of daily flights from its Heathrow hub.
Travellers took to social media to complain about the disruption which could leave holiday plans in tatters.
One delayed passenger said young families missed their flights after being given the wrong or misleading information.
He slammed the customer service as "rude, impolite, unhelpful".
Dozens of flights had already been cancelled from Heathrow today due to poor weather from Storm Dennis.
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One person said: "Heathrow is a joke today, this is the queue for information. My flight leaves in 20 minutes at what gate? No information online either."
Another said: "Hey BA, as you know, all the screens have packed up at Heathrow. How about using your own team to give us an update on your flights? Absolutely useless!"
Benjamin Kerr said: "Utter chaos at @HeathrowAirport today. It’s been a shambles all day- I have seen families with young children miss their flights because of staff giving wrong/misleading information. It’s been pathetic."
The technical glitch has persisted for most of the day, according to reports.
A statement from the airport read: "We are experiencing technical issues at the airport which we are working hard to resolve.
"To help direct customers to their gates, we have deployed additional Heathrow colleagues across our terminals.
"We apologise for the disruption and will continue to provide regular updates."
Signs are now up on departure boards saying: "Flight information is not updating at this time.
"Do *not* rely on any information from these screens.
"Contact your airline directly or use the airline app for flight information, gate numbers and boarding status."
British Airways said: "We’re aware that Heathrow Airport is currently experiencing a technical issue that is impacting some of their IT systems across the airport, affecting a number of airlines.
"We're working with them to resolve the issue as a priority and apologise for the delay to our customers."
British Airways also grounded 40 departures from Heathrow yesterday due to strong winds from Storm Dennis.
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