(dpa) - British Airways (BA) Friday postponed the planned transfer of most of its long-haul flights to Heathrow airport's new Terminal 5 (T5) following severe problems with the computer- controlled baggage handling system.
BA boss Willie Walsh, announcing the two-month delay from the end of April to June, said the airline wanted to make sure that T5 was operating "consistently at a high standard before the move begins."
The new terminal, which cost 4.3 billion pounds (8.6 billion dollars) to build, has been plagued with problems ever since it opened for passengers on March 27.
It is almost exclusively used by BA, which now plans to move most of its long-haul flights to the terminal by the end of June.
Some 5,000 pieces of baggage lost at the hi-tech terminal in the last two weeks have still to be reunited with their owners.
Staff have complained that they have not been sufficiently trained to handle the system.