London: British Airways said it had cancelled an additional 34 flights at London Heathrow Airport's new Terminal 5 today due to the knock-on effects of snowy weather over the weekend.

BA pulled 138 flights yesterday due to have flown in and out of Heathrow because of heavy snowfall and persistent problems with the baggage system at the world s busiest international airport's costly new terminal.

Today's cancellations are "not caused by the baggage system, this is simply because of the weather yesterday," said a spokesman for BA, which has exclusive use of T5.

"There were a number of aircraft that were out of position which means that had a knock-on effect with the schedule today."

A spokeswoman for BAA, the body that operates Heathrow, confirmed there were no further problems with T5's baggage system today.

Terminal 5 opened on March 27 to much fanfare but has been plagued by severe logistical problems which have centred around the baggage handling system.

The facility cost about 4.3 billion pounds (USD 8.7 billion) to build.

The British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa),which represents 3,000 BA pilots, demanded today a change in the way the airline is managed, in an open letter to the government and financial institutions. "Banks, institutional investors and analysts need to wake up to the fact that there is something very wrong at the heart of this company that is making our once great brand a laughing stock," said Balpa general secretary Jim McAuslan.

Source : PTI