British Airways Aims to Operate 80% of Flights From Terminal 5

March 28 (Bloomberg) -- British Airways Plc plans to operate 80 percent of flights out of London Heathrow airport's new fifth terminal today, including all long-haul services.

BA apologized to customers for the disruption that led to chaos on the new 4.3 billion-pound ($8.6 billion) terminal's first day of operations yesterday, the company said in an e- mailed statement early this morning. It is ``closely monitoring the situation'' at Heathrow, BA said.

Chief Executive Officer Willie Walsh said the company apologized to any customers who suffered disrupted journeys or baggage delays yesterday, according to the statement.

``We always knew the first day would represent a unique challenge,'' he said. ``A number of early problems grew during the course of the day which led to significant disruption for our customers.''

``I am very sorry that the problems have meant that some of our customers did not experience the true potential of this amazing new building,'' Walsh said in the statement.

BA said that the problems of the first day were caused by a combination of factors, including delays at the staff car park and at security, and log in problems for baggage handlers reporting for duty.

The airline said that customers today will be able to check in both hand and hold luggage. Customers flying today should check with BA first for up to date flight information.

As many as 68 inbound and outbound flights were scrapped yesterday by BA, which is the terminal's sole occupant. Baggage check-in was halted while Heathrow owner BAA Ltd. worked to resolve ``operational issues.''

Ease Journeys

British Airways is counting on Terminal 5 to ease journeys and retain passengers disillusioned with Heathrow's overcrowding. The London-based airline has Europe's worst record for lost luggage and is second-worst for delayed bags, according to the Air Transport Users Council.

Terminal 5 boasts 60 aircraft stands and 17 kilometers (10.6 miles) of baggage conveyors in a system designed to handle as many as 12,000 bags an hour.

The terminal, which took almost two decades to plan and erect, received its first flight, from Hong Kong, at about 4:50 a.m. yesterday.

To contact the reporters on this story: Tracy Alloway in London at talloway@bloomberg.net; Clementine Fletcher at Heathrow on cfletcher5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Jasper at cjasper@bloomberg.net.