ABU DHABI // At least two UAE-bound flights have been affected after British Airways announced it cancelled all flights from London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports Saturday due to a massive computer glitch.
"We have experienced a major IT system failure that is causing very severe disruption to our flight operations worldwide," a British Airways spokeswoman said. "The terminals at Heathrow and Gatwick have become extremely congested and we have cancelled all flights from Heathrow and Gatwick before 6pm UK time today, so please do not come to the airports."
British Airways flight BA73 was due to take off from London at 12:40pm and arrive in Abu Dhabi tonight at 22:55, while BA107 was scheduled to depart London at 12:55pm and arrive at Dubai's Terminal 1 at 23:10.
The company's social media accounts were bombarded with queries from frustrated travellers seeking information about the status of their flights.
"We're unable to check on updates due to system issues," British Airways tweeted in response to a customer. "We'll take a look as soon as we're able to. Sorry for the inconvenience."
A company spokeswoman said more information would be provided through ba.com, Twitter and through airport communication channels for flights departing after 6pm London time.
"We will be updating the situation via the media regularly throughout the day," the spokeswoman said. "We are extremely sorry for the inconvenience this is causing our customers and we are working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible."
British Airlines flight BA109 scheduled to depart from London to Dubai at 21:20 is listed as being "on time," according to the Heathrow Airport, but passengers have been cautioned to check the status of their flights.
"Passengers travelling with British Airways after 6pm should check the status of their flight before travelling to the airport," according to a message posted on Heathrow Airport's homepage. "We are working closely with the airline to assist passengers who have been affected by the British Airways' issue and have extra customer service colleagues in terminals to assist those passengers already at Heathrow."
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