UK govt offers help to solve Heathrow woes

LONDON: Britain���s transport secretary offered on Sunday to help resolve problems at Heathrow airport's new terminal that have led to hundreds of flight cancellations, thousands of lost bags and much embarrassment.

British Airways, Terminal 5's sole tenant, cancelled 37 domestic and European flights on Sunday, bringing the total number of cancellations since the terminal opened on Thursday to 245.

Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly said she had offered help to both British Airways and Heathrow airport operators BAA. ���Everything possible must be done to deliver a better service for passengers who are unfortunately still facing disruption and delays to their journeys,��� Kelly said in a statement.

David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, has called Terminal 5's opening ���a public relations disaster��� that would hurt Britain's reputation with business people throughout the world.

Many of the problems seem to have been caused by a breakdown in the baggage collection system. BA brought in extra staff on Sunday to help sort through the 15,000 stranded bags that were sitting inside the new terminal and to begin trying to reunite them with passengers.

With nearly 250 flights cancelled since Thursday���s opening of the $8.6 billion Terminal 5 and more cancellations due in coming days, the airline could not say when matters would return to normal.

���We have got 400 extra staff in on Sunday volunteering to get the bags moved. There are still around 15,000 bags to move,��� a spokeswoman said. ���We are working around the clock to get them back to their owners.���