British Airways was forced to cancel more of its short-haul flights from Heathrow on Friday following a computer outage that knocked out parts of its service on Thursday, just as UK travellers prepare for one of the busiest travel periods with school half term holidays and an extended weekend. “While the vast majority of our flights continue to operate today, we have cancelled some of our short-haul flights from Heathrow due to the knock-on effect of a technical issue that we experienced yesterday,” the airline said in a statement.
AAA predicts that 37 million Americans will drive at least 50 miles (80 kilometers) from home this weekend, an increase of more than 2 million from Memorial Day last year but still below pre-pandemic numbers in 2019. The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 10 million travelers between Friday and Monday, a 14% increase over the holiday in 2022 and slightly more than in 2019.
The disruptions come just as travellers across Europe gear up for one of the biggest travel weekends, with many countries enjoying a public holiday on Monday. Airlines and airports have said they’re better prepared to handle the massive surge in bookings than they were a year ago, when the post-pandemic rebound overwhelmed the industry and led to thousands of cancelled flights, misplaced luggage and long lines at airports from Heathrow to Amsterdam to Frankfurt.Passengers complained on social media about long-wait times to reach customer service representatives and only being allowed to book an alternative flight 36 hours after they were originally due to depart.
