IT issue delays British Airways passenger check-ins

British Airways passengers around the world endured delays of up to five hours when an IT problem affected check-in systems at airports yesterday.

Long queues formed at Heathrow and Gatwick international airports in and as far afield as Durban and San Francisco after the issue occurred.

Passengers took to Twitter around midnight to complain of overly long check-in queues at Heathrow and Gatwick. BA later confirmed there was a problem as airport staff were forced to manually process check-ins.

It is not known what exactly caused the problem, aside from it being an IT glitch. BA's new FLY check-in system went live last October but since then has experienced problems in June and again in July.

One passenger posted a notice by BA on Twitter confirming that passengers would be delayed for up to 30 minutes while alternative arrangements were put in place "in the absence of the computer system".

Passengers were said to be boarding flights with boarding card written out by hand. One user on Twitter posted a photo of such their boarding card written out in pen.

In response, BA said on Twitter that it apologised "to our customers for the delay and we appreciate their patience as our IT teams work to resolve this issue".

The airline urged passenger to check-in online to help reduce delays. It also claimed that its systems were back up and running.

"We are checking in customers at Heathrow and Gatwick Airport this morning as normal, although it may take longer than usual. We would encourage customers to check in online before they reach the airport," it said in a statement to IT Pro.