Ananova:

British Airways has apologised to passengers after a disastrous opening day for Heathrow's flagship Terminal 5 ended with the suspension of all baggage check-in at the new facility.

The decision meant travellers could only fly with carry-on hand luggage.

35 outgoing and 28 incoming flights have also been cancelled during a day of chaos at the terminal, dubbed the "Gateway to Britain" by Her Majesty the Queen at its recent unveiling.

British Airways Director of Operations Gareth Kirkwood apologised in a statement for the "short term difficulties" and announced that those with more luggage could seek a refund for their planned flights.

Sky sources believe hold luggage has been allowed on some long haul flights as BA attempt to resolve the travel trouble.

Passengers unable to travel have been asked to find their own hotels, with some reporting they have been given a promise of full compensation from the airline.

Earlier, the Department of Transport said it "expects BA and BAA to work hard to resolve these issues and limit disruption to passengers."

Broken backage belts, halted lifts and grounded planes due to unexplained "problems" have made a mockery of BA promises of a "seamless and updated" flying experience at T5, said to be queue- and hassle-free.

Passengers have also expressed anger at the handling of the problems on the ground as staff struggled to communicate or cope with the demands of the £4.3bn building.

Sky News reporter Katie Stallard said: "It is rapidly becoming a pretty shambolic situation.

"Baggage belts have broken and passengers are now being asked to manually check-in in their bags."

"It's a long way from the triumphant opening that staff had in mind."

Earlier, planes to Munich, Frankfurt, Paris and Brussels were left grounded as well as flights to Glasgow and Aberdeen.

Some passengers had to wait more than two hours to collect their belongings after flying in to the new terminal.

Computer difficulties also caused problem with bags on departing flights in the morning. Three left without any luggage on board.

To add to the problems, about 250 people staged a "flash mob" protest in the T5 arrivals hall at 11am.

They took off their outer clothes to reveal red T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan "Stop Airport Expansion".

Watched over by police officers - some of them armed - they clapped and cheered before dispersing peacefully.

The day began well when the first plane - a flight from Hong Kong - landed eight minutes early at 4.42am.

It was the first of 380 planes scheduled to use the terminal - which was officially opened by the Queen last week - on its first day.

The first flight away from the terminal was a BA flight to Paris, which pushed back off the stand on time at 6.20am.

But aviation expert Philip Butterworth-Hayes told Sky News that passengers should expect disruption.

"Queue-less flying is a great fallacy. It's never going to happen," he said.

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