BA passengers were in trouble again last weekend at Heathrow, as their computer network crashed and was out of operation for just over two hours.

First impressions suggest that there was a problem within the hub of BA’s computer systems setup at 6.45am, but as the reasons for this failure are still far from clear, BA has already set up an inquiry into the causes of the power cut.

Check in and baggage systems were disrupted at Heathrow and 11 flights were cancelled, however, BA said that there was only ‘minimal impact’ at other airports, although some passengers had to leave without their luggage and Scottish airports had to resort to manual processing before the system was back up and running.

Passengers at Gatwick suffered delays of only 15 minutes, but Terminal one at Heathrow was the worst hit, with hundreds of passengers affected by the cancelled flights and delays of up to two hours for domestic and European services.

This follows the massive disruption caused by the impromptu walk out of check in staff in a row over working conditions earlier this year and is yet another blow to BA’s already damaged image.

The problem was resolved by 8.50am and services were expected to get back to normal on Sunday morning.