More Terminal decline

HUNDREDS of air passengers have been left stranded after more problems at Heathrow’s Terminal 5.

The terminal has had a troubled start The terminal has had a troubled start

Travellers had hoped to take advantage of smoother operations at the terminal, which was running more efficiently compared with its disastrous launch earlier this year. [>

Problems resurfaced last week, however, when an “IT glitch” resulted in staff having to abandon the mechanised baggage-handling system – the source of contention in March. [>

Passengers were forced to wait in planes on the runway for more than an hour while suitcases were loaded by hand on to at least three aircraft. [>

Arriving passengers were also met by delays. [>

“The captain told us that our flight was delayed because the mechanised baggage system had failed; baggage handlers were doing all the loading by hand,” said a passenger on a BA flight to Dusseldorf. [>

“I went through all the delays when the terminal opened and it was awful but I thought they’d fixed it all, it seems I was wrong. Passengers next to me weren’t pleased either.” [>

The technical hitch is the latest blow for British Airways, which has exclusive use of the terminal and is struggling to find merger partners. [>

Only 10 days ago, a deal with Qantas failed after the companies fought over which would take overall control. [>

It leaves the airline, which has slipped from most profitable in the world to Europe’s number three, having to secure a three-way deal with American Airlines and Iberia. [>

Last night, US regulators delayed it again over possible monopoly rule breaches. [>

BA said November was a “remarkable success” after more than 90 per cent of flights left T5 and only 1.2 per cent of bags were delayed compared with summer’s 3.8 per cent. [>

Last night a BA spokesman said: “There was an IT hitch on Sunday which affected three or four aircraft, which were delayed for around 45 minutes. The problem was not with the mechanised baggage-handling system, however.” [>

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