The New Heathrow Terminal

LONDON: British Airways canceled 37 flights Sunday and has yet to clear a backlog of about 15,000 pieces of luggage after disruptions at London Heathrow Airport's new Terminal 5 spilled into a fourth day.

The carrier has so far abandoned only short-haul and domestic flights, to cities including Amsterdam and Glasgow, representing about 11 percent of all flights.

British Airways, based in London, has canceled more than 200 flights since the terminal opened March 27, after computer log-on failures for baggage handlers and delays at staff car parks sparked turmoil at the airport, Europe's busiest. The number of flights canceled Sunday fell by 30 from 67 yesterday.

About 6 percent of the baggage British Airways has handled in the past four days still has yet to reach its owners, the spokeswoman said. The carrier, Europe's third-biggest, is already Europe's worst airline for lost luggage and the second-worst for delayed bags, according to the Air Transport Users Council.

Terminal 5 took two decades to plan and build at a cost of 4.3 billion pounds, or $8.6 billion, as the UK government battled campaigners who said the building would only add to congestion at Europe's busiest airport. British Airways has said the terminal will ease journeys and help retain passengers disillusioned with Heathrow's overcrowding.

[source: International Herald Tribune]

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We're pretty happy that we flew with United and not British Airways. Otherwise, we would have been caught up in all this mess. And our luggage would probably be still sitting at Terminal 5 in the pile of 15,000 that still haven't been shifted. This actually explains something. Yesterday, when we were trundling down the sidewalk to our apartment we passed two old codgers who made some comment about "oh, you must be coming from Terminal 5". We just laughed politely and continued trundling. I guess they were referring to the aforementioned snafu.

The new Terminal 5... According to the news yesterday, the problems started when nearly all the employees didn't have anywhere to park when they arrived on opening day. Therefore, there were only two check-in desks open. Parking for employees... a pretty fundamental thing to have on the ol' "To Do" list!

Doesn't bode well for the Olympic Village, currently under construction around London.