31/03/2008 06:48:00
The inaugural week of the new Terminal 5 building at Heathrow Airport continues to be marred by cancellations and baggage delays by flagship flight operator British Airways.
Since T5 opened on Thursday March 27, just four days ago, a total of 353 flights have been cancelled by BA. In addition, 15, 000 bags have been separated from their owners and around 20, 000 passengers affected by the confusion.
The Guardian states that, in order to combat the mounds of luggage that have mounted up at T5, BA has enlisted 400 volunteers from its staff to sift through the backlog.
An official comment from BA stated: "A backlog of undelivered bags has built up. This backlog is not affecting the day-to-day operation of the baggage system, and we are making every effort to reunite delayed bags with their owners...
"We are sorry for the disruption and inconvenience caused to customers whose flights have been cancelled or whose bags have been delayed."
Furthermore, business leaders in Scotland have claimed that BA flights to the country have been disproportionately affected by the problems at T5, according to the BBC.
Flights to Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh have all seen cancellations over the past four days, much to the consternation of Scottish businessmen and the Scottish government.
Andy Wilcox, a member of the Federation of Small Business Scotland, told the BBC: "It is an open secret that flights to and from Scotland are the first to be scrapped in order to clear the backlog and handle more lucrative international flights." BA, however, have refuted claims that flights to Scotland have been unfairly disadvantaged.
The airline operator hopes to reduce the number of cancelled flights from T5 gradually throughout the coming week.