MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

British Airways £4.5 billion Chaos Terminal in Heathrow

British Airways' passengers are this morning waking up to news that 54 flights at Heathrow's Terminal Five have been cancelled, with the airline admitting it could not predict when the crisis would end.

The news comes after a weekend which saw dozens of scrapped journeys, thousands of lost suitcases, and complaints that some staff at the £4.3 billion building could barely spell the names of their destinations. On Sunday night, BA would make no public pledge about the resumption of a full service. A spokesman said: "No. You would just use that as a stick to beat us with if it didn't happen." Heathrow's showpiece should be running at 87% capacity today and on Tuesday, with passengers being kept informed by email and text, BA confirmed. But Kerry Johnstone, 35, said she was given no warning about her cancelled flight to Copenhagen on Sunday, despite assurances that customers would be told in advance. The marketing manager said she was facing an eight-hour delay which she only got to know about by reading the electronic board at the terminal. She said: "There was a two-year-old child screaming next to me, and when one of the staff tried to make light of it, I said that was exactly what I felt like doing. I feel like having a full-blown tantrum, but I'm too old. "I don't blame the staff because they are being very good. One of them told me that the CEO had said it was all on his head, and yet they had not seen him once." Many other passengers said they had experienced good service and efficient check-ins. Earlier on Sunday, the chief executive, Willie Walsh, vowed his staff "would not rest" until Heathrow's Terminal Five was working at a "high standard".