British Airways apologises for delay to passengers

British Airways on Tuesday apologised to its passengers who faced delays after an IT glitch affected check-in desks.

The passengers complained of delays at check-in, the baggage drop and on the tarmac waiting for take-off, BBC reported.

The airline said passengers were able to check in at Heathrow and Gatwick Airports "although it is taking longer than usual". It advised passengers to check in online.

"We are sorry for the delay to their journeys," it said.

There was further disruption for passengers at London City Airport on Tuesday after, police said, protestors "locked themselves together" on the runway.

The airways encouraged customers affected by the IT problems to check in online before they reached the airport.

It told the customers that some flights were cancelled on Monday "due to operational reasons" but that specialists were "working to resolve this issue".

One passenger, Dana Al-Qatami, who was flying from Switzerland to London, was issued with a handwritten boarding pass on Tuesday morning.

Dana, alongside another Twitter user, Susan Stewart, said the delays continued once on the plane.

Stewart, a Director at the Open University in Scotland, tweeted: "Dear British Airways, could you turn the wifi BA 2953 please so we can work whilst stuck here on tarmac? (or let us off?)".

Liv Boeree, a professional poker player from London, told the BBC she had queued for a flight in Las Vegas for two and a half hours.

"It's now midnight and we are boarding. Check-in was long and slow. The staff handled it very well," she said.

On Monday, customers in the US and Canada reported delays at several airports due to IT problems.

People flying from San Francisco, Washington DC and Atlanta reported long delays on social media.

Matthew Walker, a financial analyst from London, waited for more than two hours to board his flight to Heathrow.

Though he had already checked in online, he said that the airways staff could not access their computers to see which passengers had gone through security.

In July, the British Airways apologised to passengers who faced long delays at check-in at Heathrow and Gatwick.

The airways was upgrading its check-in system and problems led to lengthy queues on one of the busiest days of the year for the airports.

--IANS

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