Baggage Chaos at Heathrow T5

The opening of London Heathrow Airport's £4.3 billion pound Terminal 5 ended in chaos on Thursday with its new baggage handling system suspended and dozens of flights cancelled.

The state-of-the-art baggage system is meant to help smooth the journeys of millions of passengers traveling through Heathrow.

But the first day saw at least 33 short-haul flights cancelled and enraged passengers suffering hours of delays because of a backlog caused by technical problems.

Passengers wanting to fly late on Thursday were told they would only be able to take hand luggage onboard.

British Airways, which has its new home at T5, blamed the disruption on "teething problems".

It apologized, saying customers who had not checked-in could travel with hand baggage only, re-book or receive a refund.

Baggage handling was only one of a series of problems facing passengers. Others included car parking troubles, staff security screening and general confusion over the unfamiliar layout.

Chaos spilled int the second day and British Airways cancelled a fifth of its flights.

The open plan terminal is Britain's largest enclosed space, equivalent to the size of about 50 football pitches, and was touted as the answer to the delays passengers can face at Heathrow.

British Airways said 80 percent of flights from Terminal 5, including all long-haul flights, would operate on Friday and that customers could check in both hand and hold luggage.

Some stranded passengers spent the night in the terminal, reluctant to pay for nearby hotels even though the authorities had promised to reimburse them.

"I am very sorry that the problems have meant that some of our customers did not experience the true potential of this amazing new building," British Airways Chief Executive Willie Walsh said in a statement.