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Heathrow T5 hassles enter 2nd week

  • Story Highlights
  • 32 flights canceled as Heathrow's T5 enters second week of woes
  • British Airways sending thousands of bags to Italy as it tries to resolve crisis
  • BA faces backlog of at least 19,000 pieces of luggage at Heathrow's new T5
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From CNN's Jim Boulden
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Problems persisted Thursday at Terminal Five of Heathrow Airport, a week after the long-awaited gateway's disastrous opening resulted in thousands of stranded passengers and a mountain of misplaced luggage.

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Misplaced luggage at T5 is being sent to Italy to be sorted and returned to owners.

A British Airways spokesman told CNN Thursday it had canceled 32 flights, about eight percent of its schedule for the day due to ongoing probelms with the $8.6 billion terminal that is the airline's new home.

On Wednesday, the airline confirmed it had begun sending thousands of bags to Italy as it tried to clear the backlog of unsorted luggage that built up as state of the art handling equipment went awry.

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The airline had promised that the new terminal could simultaneously handle dozens of planes and process 12,000 bags an hour, fixing problems that have long plagued Heathrow's four older terminals.

Airport operator, BAA, has banned television cameras from the building amid the chaos, even as British Airways CEO Willie Walsh accepted blame for the problems. Video Watch discussion on whether Walsh should quit. » E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

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