A Gate Gourmet lorry passes British Airways planes on the tarmac at Heathrow airport on Sunday. (Reuters)

London, Aug. 14: Passengers stranded at Heathrow for more than three days are so incensed with British Airways’s handling of the situation that they intend to sue for compensation. One couple said they were “embarrassed to be British” after having stood in line with fellow passengers for 15 hours, only to be told that the queue would be closing before they could board the flight.

Many have criticised BA for its “disgraceful” treatment after wildcat strikes by baggage handlers in support of sacked catering colleagues stranded 70,000 travellers.

Last night, more than 24 hours after BA staff returned to work, many passengers were still stuck at Heathrow waiting to board their flights after a chaotic few days of delays, sleepless nights and a dearth of accurate information. Airport officials admitted yesterday that the chaos had been compounded by huge quantities of luggage stuck in the system because of the strike action.

Although the airline insisted that 80 per cent of long-haul flights were running as normal, some travellers were last night preparing to spend another night on terminal floors.

The airline’s staff, struggling to cope with the thousands of stranded passengers, resorting to handing out numbered tickets in an attempt to regulate the queuing system.

“It was like being at a supermarket meat counter,” said one passenger, “But with no prospect of being served.”

Sue Boswell and Geoff Adams waited at the airport for more than 24 hours ? including all Friday night ? after their flight to a family reunion in Detroit was cancelled. They had arrived at the airport from their home in Cornwall at 6 am.

After 15 hours in line they were told that the queue was closing and were urged to go to a hotel ? but that meant they would lose their place and have to start again, so they stayed put. At one point passengers were ordered to wait outside in the cold for 90 minutes before being allowed back into the terminal in groups of 10. When the couple got back into the terminal they rejoined the queue and were finally allocated a flight for 9.35 am.

“We’re flying with American Airlines,” Boswell said. “I will never fly with BA again. I was embarrassed to be British today.”