British Airways passengers have arrived at their holiday destinations without their luggage after a technical issue prevented up to 3,000 baggage items from being loaded onto planes at Heathrow Airport.

The fault affected baggage systems at Heathrow Terminal 5, the main hub for British Airways flights, on Thursday, leaving hundreds of holidaymakers without their bags and suitcases. Only passengers departing from Terminal 5 were affected.

Heathrow and British Airways are working to deliver the stranded baggage items to travellers around the world. An airport source said roughly 3,000 items were stuck at Heathrow.

Officials said the technical issue with the baggage systems has since been resolved.

A Heathrow spokesperson said: "We apologise to any passengers who have experienced delays in their baggage departing Terminal 5. The fault has now been resolved, and we are operating as normal. We will continue to work closely with airlines to reunite passengers with their bags as quickly as possible."

The problem originated with Heathrow's systems rather than British Airways, City AM understands.

A British Airways spokesman said: "While this issue was outside our control, we apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused."

Under the Montreal Convention, which governs international flights and applies to UK departures, airlines are liable for delayed, damaged or lost luggage, and passengers can claim reimbursement for essential items purchased while their bags are missing. Under UK rules implementing the convention, liability is capped at around 1,000 Special Drawing Rights, an International Monetary Fund reserve asset, which fluctuates against sterling. Claims for baggage delay are typically made directly with the airline regardless of which party operated the affected airport system.

Travellers through Heathrow hit

Heathrow Terminal 5 is the busiest airport terminal in the UK, according to the consultancy Arup. It was reported in 2023 that an average of 100,000 passengers arrived at or departed from the terminal each day.

UK airports have faced a series of challenges in recent years, with cyber threats and other technical issues causing mass disruption.

Last year, a cyber attack on check-in systems led to several flight cancellations and significant delays across a number of European airports.

Faulty software has also caused major disruption, with one of the worst incidents coming in 2023, when a CrowdStrike software update grounded flights around the world.