British Airways is continuing to cancel flights as a result of the IT failure that affected departures yesterday afternoon and evening from Heathrow.

The airline apologised for yesterday’s technical issue, describing the problem as ‘temporary’, adding operations at Terminal 5 were starting to resume on Wednesday evening.

But in an updated statement today, the airline said its schedule from Heathrow had been reduced.

The statement did not say how many flights have been affected, but the Independent reports at least 50 short-haul flights to and from Heathrow have been cancelled today, in addition to the dozens of departures on Wednesday afternoon and evening.

BA said the reduced service was also as a result of bad weather.

The Independent said ‘at least 5,000 BA customers… will face disruption on Thursday, on top of tens of thousands who were delayed or grounded on Wednesday’.

It added many passengers are still waiting for baggage, four long-haul flights have been held overnight and the ‘knock-on disruption could continue for several days’.

The latest problems come a month after 500 flights were either cancelled or delayed globally because of IT failures.

Affected passengers have again taken to social media to express their frustration and the try to get an answer from BA about the status of their flight.

They include broadcaster Andrew Neil, who tweeted on Wednesday evening that BA’s technical problems get ‘worse and worse’.

“They cancelled so many flights this evening that hotels around Heathrow are jam-packed,” he added.

Consumer champion Which? has urged British Airways to give clear information to passengers caught up in Wednesday’s IT disruption.

Which? Travel Editor Rory Boland said: “Passengers will rightly be very angry about this disruption just weeks after the last time British Airways experienced technical issues.

“In events such as these, airlines should be offering the option of a refund or to reroute passengers on any reasonable route as quickly as possible, using other airlines where necessary.”

Rory later tweeted to say he has checked with BA and the airline has confirmed it will rebook passengers on to an alternate airline if that is the best way to get people to their destination.

In a statement to Travel Gossip on Thursday morning, BA said: “We’re very sorry to say that as a result of the technical issue we experienced yesterday and predicted weather disruption, we have had to reduce our schedule at Heathrow today. We’re taking steps to ensure as many customers as possible are able to travel as planned today.

“We’ve apologised to our customers and are offering to refund or rebook them onto alternative flights, providing refreshment vouchers and hotel accommodation where needed.”