BA 'Technical Issues' Ground All Flights

British Airways has cancelled all its short-haul flights this morning because of ongoing "technical issues" at Heathrow Airport.

The airline's app and website were down on Friday evening, leaving customers unable to book flights or access boarding cards and BA's operations at Terminal 5 were said to be 'running on paper'.

British Airways says the problem is related to a hardware issue and is not because of a cyber attack.

Passengers due to travel later today are being asked to check the status of their flight on ba.com before travelling to the airport.

A spokesperson for the airline says they 'anticipate further disruption during the day', and affected passengers will be contacted.

"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."

Long-haul flights from Heathrow and all Gatwick and London City flights are due to operate as planned, 'but customers may experience some delays'.

Last night, passengers arriving at Heathrow Terminal 5 from Jersey were left waiting on board the aircraft for around an hour after landing before being allowed to disembark.

Really shoddy @British_Airways for leaving plane (2775) full of passengers on the tarmac at LHR for over an hour since landing with zero news about the buses supposed to be coming to liberate us. Please help… #BritishAirways #BA2775

— tom innes (@tominnes) February 25, 2022

Nearly 130 passengers hoping to travel on the return leg of the route, from Heathrow to Jersey, faced similar problems taking off.

Jersey Airport staff stayed late and kept the airport open until midnight allowing islanders to return home. It eventually landed at 11:48pm on Friday night.

Delayed BA passengers eventually made it into Jersey Airport just before midnight

European law entitles any Jersey passengers delayed by more than three hours to claim €250 compensation and have expenses reimbursed by the airline as long as the disruption could have been avoided.

Passengers who had flights cancelled altogether will be offered alternative travel arrangements or a full refund.

Success - we are moving - hats to Lorraine @JERairport tower for keeping it open to midnight and huge shout out to the awesome chatty @British_Airways pilot who has been brilliant. Homeward bound ✈️❤️🙏

— Dr. Tessa Hartmann CBE (@TessaHartmann) February 25, 2022

A further update from British Airways on Saturday's flights is expected this afternoon.