British Airways Chief Executive Willie Walsh has said the baggage handling system at Heathrow's Terminal 5 is now "generally working well".

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"We are making every effort to reunite bags with their owners," he said.

Mr Walsh repeated BA's apology to passengers, saying that since Thursday, "the service we provided has not been good enough."

The baggage handling system had experienced problems which had not come to light in testing, he said.

"These issues are being addressed as they arise by a team of engineers and IT specialists from BAA and BA", Mr Walsh said.

He said reunited passengers with their luggage would take time, because "delayed bags must undergo enhanced levels of security screening".

This is being done manually because BA has been unable to use the Terminal Five baggage system to process the bags.

"We are sorry for the disruption and inconvenience caused to customers whose flights have been cancelled or whose bags have been delayed. We will not rest until our service has been restored to the high standard customers rightly expect", Willie Walsh said,

He said BA would continue to work towards increasing the number of services in the days ahead.

"Both British Airways and BAA have invested an enormous amount of time and effort to create Terminal Five.

"We remain confident that these early difficulties can be overcome, and that the terminal will be highly valued by customers and our staff in the near future and for many years to come."

(BBC)

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