BA cancels Heathrow short-haul flights on Saturday morning

All British Airways short-haul flights from Heathrow were cancelled until at least midday today (Saturday) due to a computer glitch.

The problem, coinciding with the end of school half term holidays in parts of the country, is not a cyber attack but relates to a hardware issue the airline is working hard to resolve.

The airline’s website is working and passengers with cancelled flights are being offered a refund or rebook options.

But the knock-on impact is likely to last throughout the day.

A BA spokesperson said: “We are extremely sorry that due to the continuing technical issues we are facing we have regrettably had to cancel all short-haul flights from Heathrow today until midday.

“Customers due to travel later today should check their flight status on ba.com before coming to the airport as we anticipate further disruption during the day.

“Our long-haul services at Heathrow and all flights at Gatwick and London City Airport are due to operate as planned, but customers may experience some delays.

“Our website is working and customers can check-in online and at the airport.

“We are offering customers on cancelled services options including a full refund and all customers booked to travel on short-haul services from Heathrow today can opt to rebook to a later date for free if they choose. We will be contacting customers proactively.

“Our teams have been working hard through the night and will continue to do so to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

“We advise our customers due to travel today to check ba.com for the latest flight information before coming to the airport.

“We know we have let our customers down and we will do everything we can to make this up to them – but for now our focus is on getting as many customers and flights away as we can.”