Thank God T5 will soon arrive! It will be a dread to be the poor bloke flying with any other carrier than BA then...

Stephen, Bellingham, Washington, USA

I think if you read the article properly, as most people here don't seem to have done, you will notice that:

1. It is BAAs fault not BAs
2. BA are saying if you definately want to fly with tem, you can't check in luggage - otherwise we can book you on another flight/ etc or give you a refund
3. First class passengers sould get speciali treatment. If I paid for a first class flight I would DEMAND special treatment over people paying 1/8 of the price of my flight.

Tim, London, UK

Hey, there's plenty of unemployed people out there, BA should take a load on very quickly and get them to carry the bags to the planes, I'm sure they'd be glad of the money and passengers would at least be able to travel.

Paul Downes, Milton Keynes, Bucks

It seems unfair that the article highlights restrictions and problems on BA flights when it appears to be the airport operator and its system that has the problems.

As the article eventually, reluctantly admits, "The baggage handling failure is also affecting other airlines that operate from Terminal 4, which include Qantas, KLM and SN Brussels. "

The Times appears to be pointing blame at the wrong source of trouble. Does News International have a dispute or other problem with BE in partuclar? If so, its readers should be warned.

Edwin, Bucharest,

Kev Crum, Crewe: I would think it would be strange if 1st and Business Class paasengers are NOT being given special dispensation. Wouldn't you want it if you paid the extra premium for the expensive seats?

Get real!

These companies have to consider their best customers first. It is only business sense.

Edwin, Bucharest,

Can't help but notice Club World and First are still able to check luggage into the hold. Funny that...

Kev Crum, Crewe,

I was flying american airlines Charlotte North Carolina - Chicago - london... my original ticket from NC - Chicago was cancelled, and i was told i had to re-purchase one for $1000american, (roughly £500) being the last 2 weeks of travel i really couldnt afford it, i debated with the ticketing at AA for 6 hours, 24 hours after i was meant to leave originally i was on my first flight, i got to chicago, and hen waited for my next plane, delay after delay, 3 hours later its cancelled. then was forced to wait another 10 hours, i'd prefer to live off my carry on bag then be delayed 2 days. if you fly international you should always have a couple spare pairs of clothes because we all know luggage can be delayed, every airline screws up once in a while, i think travelers should be more travel smart, if you are filling up a carry on bag without clothes you really shouldnt be traveling on basis of your stupidity.

cameron trautwein, Canberra, A C T, Australia

I guess, it's the wrong kind of luggage. Only in Britain!

JG, London, England

Why is it that only BA manage to have regular problems. All other major carriers seem fine?

Luke , London,

Absolutely ridiculous! How can you go abroad long-haul and be asked by the airline and not take any luggage with you if it has to go in the haul? Has BA gone mad? This is the kind of think one could expect from a low cost airline, not from the main airline in the country!!!! Shame on BA and also BAA for allowing this to happen!

Emma, London,

What do you expect, the English are hardly the most efficient people in the world. What surprises me about the whole thing is that people are actually surprised! Everytime I fly into Heathrow (5-6 times per year) it takes a minimum of an hour just to get off the plane after landing and thats before the disaster that it the baggage reclaim.

mike, london, london

Only in Britain. Forget the UK being a World Leader, you need to go back nearly half a century for that. Oh and there you will find Heathrow airport, best in the World . One could only wonder what next , please dont bring any luggage for your trip to Australia, just your toiletries, oops no you cant bring those because of Terrorist threats , just a pair of flip flops and a wooly for your return trip. Oh one more thing Mr, World Traveller your fuel surcharge has inclreased by 10 percent too today. Thanks for flying BA the Worlds favorite airline.

Mike Ward, Singapore,

Did you ever see the signs at Heathrow saying "We are working hard to make this an airport London can be proud of"? My guess is you would need around 30,000 egyptian pyramid slaves to achieve this miracle. In other words: It will never happen. Heathrow is the worst airport in Europe and a shame for England.

Tobias, London, England

As people have already pointed out, BA may not be responsible for this latest fiasco which is probably the fault of BAA, a completely different company. Unfortunately, some of the flying public and the media (who should know better) do not differentiate between the names and thus BA get blamed for everything. It would clearly be in the interests of BA to change their name to avoid this bad publicity, quite apart from the fact that BA, as a private company, no longer represents Britain and should not really be using the name.

Al, Weybridge, UQ

Now I see why my company placed its European HQ in Ireland!

OK -its airports are smaller, but the locals speak English, are well educated, as opposed to the average Brit who cannot spell and knows no Geography but has GCSE's Certs to die for! The currency is the Euro, not the Funny Money Pound that no one else uses, and the IT is cutting edge--like every village in the boonioes has to-die-for Broadband speeds!!
Oh yes I nearly forgot the Irish voted 93% FOR staying in European Union, and if the Brits were allowed a vote apparently 81% of them would want out,???
Thats why we are now based in the leading English speaking European member country.
Sorry England--like your airports--you just don't pass muster!!

Bill Armstrong, Donegal Town, Rep of Ireland

You cannot blame BA for this. I have travelled back into heathrow 5 times in the past 6 months, to all the terminals, and each time bar once, I have had baggage reclaim problems. Since BAA was taken over, Heathrow has felt like a third world airport- go to any European city and many in the developing world, you will not see piles of suitcases lying around, and your suitcases will turn up in a timely manner...what is going on??!!

mario nicolaou, london,

I travel regularly all over the world, and I returned from India recently with BA. Apart form sitting on the most uncomfortable seat I have ever experienced, it took 1.5 hours from landing on the tarmac until leaving the terminal building with my baggage. This is the longest time I have ever spent going through an airport terminal. So never mind being "Europe's second-worst performing airline", from my benchmark they are the "worst in the world". Incidentally Singapore is the best. From landing to exiting the terminal building is on average around 25 minutes.

David Phillips, Herefordshire,

Typical that it's only economy class customers being affected.

Betty, Aberdeen,

Is it the first of April? "Don't bring luggage" on board a long-haul flight? What is happening to this country?

Jonny L, Dawlish, UK

Dear sir,
Regarding BA baggage restrictions due to a failure at T4.
As far as I am aware BAA the airport operator should be blamed for this problem as they should maintain the Terminal and its facilities!
If you could go airside T4 looks like a wastefield! Rubbish everywhere (papers, cups, blankets, bags, plastics bags!)
Not a lovely sight considering Heathrow is the main airport.

M.YAkhamlich, feltham, Middlesex