BA in chaos as BABS goes down on angry passengers

The departure control system and the booking system - called BABS - have both been "up and down" for the past two days, according to an insider at the world's favourite airline.

The two systems handle bookings, luggage handling, and checking in, and BA staff have had to handle all these processes by hand. Some customers have arrived to check-in to find the airline has no record of their bookings. This has meant delayed flights, missed slots, and no end of passenger irritation, according to our source.

silicon.com has even heard reports that passengers are having to carry their luggage to the aircraft by hand and give it to the luggage handlers on the tarmac.

A BA spokeswoman confessed there is a problem. She claimed it originated at the point where the various systems are linked together, and insisted that "it is actually quite small".

BA has promised to issue a statement later today.

Last August BA announced a deal with software company Amadeus to take over the running of BABS and DCS, which are due to be migrated to Amadeus's own platform later in the year.