New Heathrow terminal day two: 34 more flights cancelled

British Airways has cancelled 34 more flights from Heathrow's Terminal 5 the day after it opened but says passengers will be able to check in hold luggage.

Hold luggage was suspended due to a baggage backlog at the £4.3bn T5 on its first day in operation.

Willie Walsh, chief executive of BA, which has sole use of T5, said: "We sincerely apologise to those customers who have suffered disrupted journeys."

Thousands of travellers have been forced to stay in hotels overnight.

The airline advised customers to check its website, www.ba.com, for service updates.

Local Conservative MP David Wilshire, who serves on the CommonsTransport Committee, said it was not clear who was to blame - BA or theairport's owner, BAA.

"The problem in getting to the real truth of this.

"'Not my fault, guv, maybe his fault guv' is, I think, a bit of the problem," Mr Wilshire said.

The BBC's transport correspondent Tom Symonds said the backlog was caused by problems with the airport's three-stage luggage processing system.

The first stage - the fast bag drop - was working as planned, he said. But the second stage, an underground conveyor system, had become clogged up.

This was being blamed on staff failing to remove luggage quickly enough at the final unloading stage.