20,000 Bags Delayed at Heathrow’s New Terminal 5

Travel Blog  •  Michael Yessis  •  04.01.08 | 12:17 PM ET

imageUnfortunately, it’s not another April Fool’s Day joke. Since opening March 27, Terminal 5 at London’s Heathrow Airport has been a disaster. One of the major issues: The $8.5 billion automated luggage system failed to work as promised.

It’s gotten so bad officials have called in FedEx to help reunite those 20,000 bags with passengers.

“We had no reason to believe that the plans for T-5 would not work,” Britain’s aviation minister Jim Fitzpatrick said. “It is a matter of considerable disappointment, it has dented national pride.”

Things won’t get much better for travelers there this week. Fifty flights have been canceled, and 50 more may be canceled tomorrow, according to the Telegraph.

The BBC spells out what went wrong.

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Photo by Michael Yessis