The new baggage handling system was one of several “teething problems” in the new £4.3 billion Terminal Five building at Heathrow Airport, all resulting in at least 34 cancelled British Airways flights and the complete suspension of check-in for anyone with baggage at the terminal this afternoon.

The system, designed by airport operator BAA and implemented with specialist Dutch services company Vanderlande Industries and IBM, was designed to improve the airport's woeful baggage handling record.

Eleven miles of conveyor belts run under the terminal and are designed to carry tens of thousands of bags every hour. The high-tech system was motionless this afternoon, leading travelers to describe the situation as "hell" and baggage handlers to say it was "chaos".

A search for the word 'Heathrow' on the Vanderlande.com website resulted in the message 'Your search cannot be completed because of a service error'.