A British Airways plane takes off at Heathrow Airport in London, Britain on Oct. 17, 2018. (Xinhua/Tim Ireland)
A BA spokesman said they had no idea how long the disruption would last, but that IT teams were "working on" resolving the issue.
LONDON, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- British Airways (BA) on Wednesday cancelled more than 100 flights and delayed hundreds more due to a major IT meltdown, leaving tens of thousands of holidaymakers stranded across the UK.
Around 20,000 passengers suffered cancellations after the airline halted 117 flights due to operate to or from Heathrow Airport in London. Another 10 were cancelled from Gatwick, one of the airports in the British capital.
Passengers hoping to travel from Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester have encountered problems with the company's check-in systems, leaving them unable to check-in either online or at the airport. As a result, many BA customers are being checked-in manually.
More than 300 flights were also delayed, with some services lagging more than five hours behind schedule.
British Airways planes taxi at Heathrow Airport in London, Britain on Oct. 17, 2018. (Xinhua/Tim Ireland)
The official line from BA posted on its homepage says: "We are experiencing some systems problems this morning which are affecting check-in and flight departures.
"Please check manage my booking for the latest flight information and allow extra time at the airport."
BA is currently checking passengers in manually, which is working but taking significantly longer time. There also seems to be a disconnect between the information that BA is providing and what customers are being told at the gate, with some being told the problem is global, something that official statements from BA deny.
Earlier Wednesday, a BA spokesman said that they could not give a timeframe for how long the disruption would last, but that IT teams were "working on" resolving the issue.
BA said it was offering customers the opportunity to rebook flights, but could face a bill of more than 8 million pounds (9.72 million U.S. dollars) if all affected customers claim compensation under European Union rules.
