( CNN ) -- Though the air traffic control system for London airspace has been restored after a technical failure , angry passengers forced to deal with long delays and other hassles reported scenes of disorganization and `` disaster '' as a result of interruptions to their travel plans . In Heathrow Airport 's Terminal 5 , which handles mostly British Airways flights and from which many of the airport 's canceled flights were scheduled to take off , stranded passengers still stood in huge queues Friday night . Others sat in postures of dejection , some anxiously eyeing crowded power outlets as charges on their mobile phones began to fade . Few airport or airline employees seemed to be offering information as would-be fliers waited for baggage drop , check-in and -- for those who had missed their flights or whose flights were canceled -- hotel rooms provided by British Airways . Lionel Leclercq , who arrived at the airport at 4 p.m. for a 6:20 p.m. flight to Brussels , said because the airline had stopped taking baggage , he was n't able to board his flight because he had a suitcase . `` They are so disorganized . ... I had to sit and watch my flight take off just because there was no one available to take my luggage , '' Leclercq told CNN . `` Now I have no way to get out tonight because the queues are so long . '' Passengers needing to rebook flights were being asked to call a hotline , but several passengers told CNN they had to wait for extended periods on hold with little success . At Terminal 5 baggage claim -- hundreds of unclaimed bags sitting beside carousels -- a baggage handler told CNN that people have been leaving the airport without collecting their bags . `` Those people expect their bags to be delivered to their homes , '' said the baggage handler . Such had been the lengthy wait for checked luggage that many people seemed to have given up waiting . `` It 's pot luck , you can wait five minutes to get your bag or five hours , '' said baggage handler . Uncharacteristically , several arriving flights were not immediately assigned carousels . Information bottleneck . A woman who asked to be called only `` angry British Airways passenger '' was kept waiting in Paris for more than an hour and half to take off for London . As a result , she missed her connection to Washington , D.C. , and was livid because she paid $ 7,500 dollars for a business-class seat and `` now I 'm being asked to queue in line with everyone else for a hotel . '' `` It 's a mess , it 's a disaster , '' said the woman , adding that passengers were given little information . `` The worst thing is , no one 's helping . '' The reason for that , according to Angela Gittens , director-general of Montreal-based Airports Council International , may be because Heathrow officials might not know much more than the passengers themselves . `` This is not an air traffic problem that originated at Heathrow , but in the en route environment , which makes it much more difficult to find out what 's happening , '' Gittens told CNN . `` Although it 's happening to ( Heathrow ) and they 're dealing with it , it 's not their situation to fix , so the airport may not have that much information in terms of how long the situation is going to last , which is what passengers want to know . `` They just deal with accepting ( the information ) and aircraft that are sent their way . '' Meanwhile , intercom announcements repeated at Heathrow stating that the `` system is completely restored and we are working with all airlines to minimize the delays '' were doing little to soothe frayed nerves of many passengers , with reports of flight delays of as long as six and a half hours . A Heathrow spokeswoman told CNN the airport could n't predict how long delays would last or what the impact into Saturday might be . `` At the moment , we 're trying to get as many people away ( Friday night ) as we can , '' the spokeswoman said . CNN 's Nic Robertson also contributed to this report .
Air traffic delays create long lines of angry passengers at Heathrow Airport . One stranded passenger calls the effort to rebook flights `` disorganized '' and says he will not fly again until they get it right.