British Airways resumes operations at Heathrow Airport

After two days of turmoil and an estimated 70,000 people affected, British Airways has started to operate a limited number of flights in and out of Heathrow from 8 p.m. Friday evening.

The airline plans to operate 31 flights Friday evening from London Heathrow airport to Glasgow, Paris, Munich, Frankfurt, Edinburgh, Hamburg, Budapest, Nice, Lyon, Newcastle, Basle, Manchester, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Lagos, Singapore, Melbourne, Dubai, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Sydney, Bangkok, Kuwait, Abuja and Tel Aviv.

From the USA, only nine flights will operate to London from: JFK, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco. No flights will operate Friday evening from Canada or Latin America.

All customers booked for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, are advised to call British Airways, consult the airline's website ba.com, or check with their local travel agents, to confirm the airlines' latest flight schedules or to arrange a refund or to rebook their travel plans.

In addition, departing London services operated by BA's franchisee British Mediterranean include Teheran, Beirut, Alexandria, Damascus, Borge el Arab, Aleppo and Tibilisi and GB Airways' flights to Malaga and Casablanca.

No shorthaul services will operate to Heathrow from Europe Friday evening; limited longhaul departures to Heathrow will operate tonight from Nairobi, Capetown and Delhi.

Full list of flights departing Friday (12 August) evening from London Heathrow airport:

BA1496 Glasgow
BA326 Paris
BA956 Munich
BA916 Frankfurt
BA1464 Edinburgh
BA972 Hamburg
BA870 Budapest
BA352 Nice
BA364 Lyon
BA1338 Newcastle
BA 6573 Beirut/Borge al Arab
BA756 Basle
BA1408 Manchester
BA6555 Aleppo/Damascus
BA031 Hong Kong
BA027 Hong Kong
BA057 Johannesburg
BA137 Lagos
BA6597 Tibilisi
BA1498 Glasgow
BA017 Singapore/Melbourne
BA015 Singapore/Sydney
BA109 Dubai
BA6914 Casablanca
BA6984 Malaga
BA247 Sao Paulo/Rio de Janeiro
BA6633 Teheran
BA157 Kuwait
BA083 Abuja
BA163 TelAviv
BA009Bangkok/Sydney

Mike Street, director of customer services and operations, said, "We face a complex logistical challenge with at least 100 aircraft and 1,000 flying crew out of position. As a result it will take some time to return to a normal flying program. We recognize how frustrating this must be but we are working as hard as we can to get customers away on their holidays."

Transport and General Workers Union staff have started to return to work after taking unofficial action in support of former employees of Gate Gourmet, the airline's catering supplier at Heathrow.

See other recent news regarding: Travel News Asia, British Airways, Heathrow