Opening of Heathrow T5 ends in chaos

By Avril Ormsby

LONDON (Reuters) - The opening of London Heathrow Airport's 4.3 billion pound Terminal 5 ended in chaos on Thursday with its new baggage handling system suspended and dozens of flights cancelled.

The state-of-the-art baggage system is meant to help smooth the journeys of millions of passengers travelling through the world's busiest international air gateway.

But the first day saw at least 33 short-haul flights cancelled and enraged passengers suffering hours of delays because of a backlog caused by technical problems.

Passengers wanting to fly late on Thursday were told they would only be able to take hand luggage onboard.

British Airways, which has its new home at T5, blamed the disruption on "teething problems".

It apologised, saying customers who had not checked-in could travel with hand baggage only, re-book or receive a refund.

Baggage handling was only one of a series of problems facing passengers. Others included car parking troubles, staff security screening and general confusion over the unfamiliar layout.

"This is not unexpected following one of the most complex and largest airport moves in history," BA said in a statement.