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British Airways could be facing huge compensation costs after thousands of passengers were stranded by a global IT crash.

After originally predicting delays until at least 6pm, British Airways say the crash will now ground all flights for the rest of the day.

Delayed travellers are able to claim compensation under EU law, unless the disruption has been caused by factors outside the airline's control.

Air travel experts say BA is likely to face a massive cost in lost revenue and payouts to customers whose flights were cancelled.

Malcolm Ginsberg, editor in chief at Business Travel News, said: "There is no question - the EU denied-boarding regulations will have to apply.

"They have broken all the rules and they will have to deal with it - it's going to be a very expensive situation for BA."

(Image: REUTERS)

(Image: PA) (Image: PA)

He added: "The money doesn't really compensate passengers for the situation."

Domestic and international flights are both affected, with British Airways saying the cancellations are due to a "major IT system failure that is causing very severe disruption to our flight operations worldwide" but there is "no evidence" that it is due to a cyber attack.

Frustrated passengers have complained of huge queues at check ins all day and say they've been left unable to use British Airways' website or app.

(Image: REUTERS)

Pictures posted on social media also show holidaymakers onboard a plane waiting to be allowed to disembark a flight, while others have been left stranded on runways.

(Image: Flynet) (Image: Flynet)

Have you been affected by the flight cancellations? Contact the Mirror newsdesk on 0207 510 6223.

British Airways issued a statement just after 1.30pm today which advised passengers that terminals have become "extremely congested".

It added: "We are extremely sorry for the inconvenience this is causing our customers and we are working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible."

(Image: REUTERS)

The issues come as thousands of families - many with young children - flock abroad for the Bank Holiday weekend and the start of half term.

Phil Davies - who was supposed to be travelling to Barbados with his wife, two children and mother-in-law from Gatwick Airport this morning - doesn't yet know when they'll be on their way.

(Image: PA)

(Image: Flynet) (Image: Flynet)

They went through to the gate before being informed of the IT issues by the captain and told to return to the terminal where they would receive meal and drink vouchers.

"There's nothing we can do about it," he told the Mirror Online. "Obviously it is pretty unprecedented but unfortunately this seems to be the current situation we are living in."

Last month Lufthansa and Air France suffered a global system outage which prevented them from boarding passengers.