Air passengers faced major disruption when their luggage was lost after a “technical fault” brought chaos to Heathrow Airport.

Many British Airways (BA) flights were delayed by several hours – while people arriving on flights into the west London airport also faced long delays to retrieve their baggage.

BA said there had been a “temporary technical fault” which had disrupted its baggage system at the airport and had apologised for the problems it caused.

But some travellers took to social media to describe their frustration at the delays, with one person who flew into Heathrow calling the situation a “shambles”.

BA said it had brought in “additional colleagues” to try to reunite people with their luggage.

The airport said people travelling with BA “may still be impacted” and should check before setting off.

No other airlines are involved in the chaos, it added.

It comes after there was disruption and long queues at Manchester Airport earlier this week following a major power cut which grounded all flights from two terminals.

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The technical issue at Heathrow began on Tuesday afternoon but was resolved towards the end of the day, according to officials.

A spokesman for BA said: “We’ve apologised to those customers who were unable to travel with their luggage due to a temporary technical fault that was outside of our control.

“This issue has been resolved and we’ve brought in additional colleagues to support our teams in getting bags back to our customers as quickly as possible.”

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A Heathrow spokesperson said: “British Airways experienced a technical issue with their allocation system. This has now been resolved.

“Our teams are on site supporting BA with their recovery.

“We advise passengers to check with BA before travelling to the airport as BA passengers in Terminal 5 may still be impacted. No other airline is impacted.”

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A passenger who flew into Heathrow wrote on X: “No info told just to go home. But need the bag for a wedding tomorrow and you’re telling me 48 hours for my bag!!!”

Another wrote: “Flew to Newcastle from Heathrow last night with @British_Airways.

“No updates or info provided by BA – flight arrived 3 hours late & without baggage.

“One staff member stood in baggage reclaim with a laminated piece of paper with a QR code to a portal that doesn’t work. Disgraceful.”

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