British Airways ‘global outage’ sees flights delayed as passengers ‘stranded in cold on tarmac’ & pilots left ‘in dark’

BRITISH Airways flights have been delayed after an IT meltdown left passengers stranded on the tarmac and pilots "in the dark".

Holidaymakers were hit by a "global outage" on Monday night - affecting flights across Europe.

Travellers were stuck onboard waiting for clearance to take off, while others stood in the cold waiting to board their flights.

Phone lines were understood to be down, with pilots said to be "in the dark" over when they'd be able to take off, The Times reports.

Many holidaymakers also faced lengthy delays waiting at the baggage claim area.

The issue was reportedly caused by an IT glitch at around 5pm which impacted the company's software.

It meant that pilots could not file flight plans electronically and as a result had to manually call Heathrow Airport.

The airline's website was also offline as well as external and internal phone lines being cut off.

Many passengers took to social media to slam the airline over a lack of communication.

Nick Ellis, an IT exec, told MailOnline: "The lack of communication is a disgrace. I am very angry. I now have to stay in a hotel I imagine and will miss important work meetings."

"It's appalling. I'm very angry. I'm knackered and really annoyed."

Another passenger said: "British Airways appear to have had a major IT outage…again.

"Flight currently grounded, captain currently furious. Sass flying at about 45,000 feet as he gives fantastic passive aggressive updates."

Were you impacted? Contact: jamie.phillips@mcb777.site

One passenger told The Sun: "I am on a plane in Johannesburg. They have no communication systems working.

"All planes around the world are grounded. Cannot even contact HQ."

Another said: "Absolute shambles three flights cancelled this month and now being made to stand on the tarmac in a very cold Verona waiting for an already delayed flight.

"What has happened to the nation's airline? Not fit for purpose."

The issue was resolved last night, with a BA spokesman saying: "Our teams worked hard to resolve an issue we experienced for a short time earlier this evening.

"We've apologised to customers for delays to their flights and ensured they were able to reach their destinations as planned."

Flight Emergency posted on X: "British Airways have lost all Communications to aircraft around Europe due to an IT outage.

"Flights will be managed by Heathrow air traffic control to get inbound flights back to base."

A BA spokesperson said earlier: "Our flights are currently operating, but are experiencing delays as our teams work to resolve a technical issue affecting some of our systems."

A spokesperson for Heathrow Airport said: "We are aware of a technical issue that British Airways are investigating and we will be working with them to provide updates with passengers as soon as they are available.

"Heathrow's systems are operating as normal."