Thousands of British Airways passengers are waiting for their luggage to be delivered after the latest systems failure at a major UK airport. On Tuesday afternoon and evening BA’s allocation system – which covers everything from aircraft stands to baggage handling – failed at London Heathrow Terminal 5. It is the main base for the airline, and the busiest terminal at Heathrow. No other airlines were affected. The latest chaos arose only two days after a power issue at Manchester triggered the cancellation of 140 flights, with thousands of passengers who did travel arriving without their baggage. While the cause of the Heathrow failure remains unclear, the effects were clear: severe disruption. A BA spokesperson told The Independent: “We’ve apologised to those customers who were unable to travel with their luggage due to a temporary technical fault that was outside of our control. This issue has been resolved and we’ve brought in additional colleagues to support our teams in getting bags back to our customers as quickly as possible.” A Heathrow spokesperson said: “Earlier, British Airways experienced a technical issue with their allocation system, this has now been resolved. Our teams are on site supporting BA with their recovery. “We advise passengers to check with BA before travelling to the airport as BA passengers in Terminal 5 may still be impacted. No other airline is impacted.”<br/>
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Cathay Pacific Airways has removed three cadet pilots from one of its training programs in the US following their non-compliance with incident reporting requirements. Phoenix, Arizona-based AeroGuard Flight Training Center earlier this month suspended all solo flights for Cathay cadets after a number of training incidents that damaged planes and went unreported by the trainee aircrew. In a memo seen by Bloomberg News, the incidents were described as a wingtip collision with a fixed object, a bounced landing leading to a substantial prop strike on a runway and a complete runway excursion. “While each situation was unique, in each case the concern was the same — required consultation did not occur” and in two of the three instances, “the students failed to properly report the damage,” the memo said. Cathay in its statement Wednesday said its decision to remove the three cadet pilots “follows the completion of a comprehensive investigation conducted by the training school in coordination with Cathay Pacific and the relevant authorities.” “A just and open reporting culture is at the center of our values,” Cathay’s director of flight operations, Chris Kempis, said. “Being aligned with this culture is fundamental to being a Cathay Pacific pilot.”<br/>
Qatar Airways is in talks to acquire about 20% of Virgin Australia Airlines Pty, people familiar with the matter said, a deal that would grant the Gulf carrier access to a market where its expansion plans were scuppered by the government last year. Negotiations between Qatar Airways and Virgin Australia’s owner, Bain Capital, may still take some time to finalize or could break down, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. An investment by Qatar Airways would require Australian government approval. Qatar Airways and Bain Capital declined to comment. Virgin Australia deferred questions about the matter to Bain Capital. Bain last year postponed plans for an initial public offering of Virgin Australia, and earlier this year announced Jayne Hrdlicka will step down as CEO once a replacement is found. A request by Qatar Airways to operate more routes to Australia was rejected in 2023. The airline has complained that decision was unfair, pointing to its operations to repatriate Australian citizens during the pandemic. Regional rival Turkish Airlines made its Australian debut this year via Singapore. Emirates has also increased operations to the continent, highlighting demand for long-haul services from the Middle East. The Australian Financial Review, which reported the talks earlier, said Qatar Airways’ interest could be announced as early as next week. <br/>