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More flight cancelations at new Heathrow terminal

For the second successive day, British Airways canceled dozens of flights at Heathrow's glittery new Terminal 5 as staff struggled with state-of-the-art technology supposed to hasten check-in procedures and make flying a pleasure.

The hitches since the terminal opened on Thursday were "definitely not British Airways' finest hour," the airline's chief executive, Willie Walsh, told reporters as he offered a personal, public apology for disrupting the travel plans of thousands of people.

On Thursday British Airways canceled almost 70 flights after a day of delays caused by baggage handling problems.

Some passengers slept overnight at the steel-and-glass terminal, reviving precisely those images of delay and decline in British aviation that British Airways said it would banish with the opening of the new terminal.

As a result, Walsh said, some 36 short-haul flights out of Terminal 5 -- mainly short-haul and domestic -- were canceled in advance on Friday to ease pressure on staff dealing with unfamiliar procedures and systems.

Walsh said there had been "problems in the car parks, airport areas, computer glitches and the baggage system."

The debacle contrasted with Britain's frequent depiction of itself as the leading modernizer in Europe.

"This is a public relations disaster at a time when London and the UK are positioning themselves as global players," said David Frost, the director general of the British Chambers of Commerce.

The new terminal -- reserved exclusively for use by British Airways -- was designed to counter the airport's image as an unpleasant place for travelers. The building cost some US$8.7 billion and has 16km of conveyor belts to carry up to 12,000 items of luggage per hour.

Other airlines, excluded from Terminal 5, took some delight in saying they were picking up business from British Airways as travelers switched to other airlines operating out of Heathrow's older terminals.
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