Lagos — Hundreds of British Airways (BA) passengers in and out of Nigeria would have their flights operated on Thursday (tomorrow) over an IT failure, it was learnt.

The United Kingdom carrier has formally announced the cancellation of the flights to Lagos and Abuja in a global system glitch affecting over 15,000 passengers worldwide.

BA operates 14 weekly flights to Nigeria - one daily in Abuja, the nation's capital and Lagos.

Reports say thousands of leisure and business travellers were stranded globally as the airline battles to restore the IT failure which has already forced the carrier to cancel flights to and from London.

Daily Trust learnt that the airline has already reached out to its Nigerian passengers informing them of the development via email and text messages.

"Yes I can confirm to you that the airline has cancelled the flight and they have duly notified the affected passengers. They sent them email and text messages. And those who have already arrived the airport have been accommodated," a source said.

It was also learnt that the airline would operate four flights tomorrow to make up for the Wednesday's cancelled flights.

Meanwhile, the airline in a statement this evening confirmed resolving the system issue.

"We apologise to all our customers caught up in the disruption, and appreciate how frustrating their experience has been," the airline said in a statement.

The statement added: "Our teams have been working tirelessly to get the vast majority of customers on their way, with most of our flights departing.

"Our flights are returning to normal; however, there may be some knock-on operational disruption as a result of the issue earlier today.

"We continue to advise customers to check www.ba.com for the latest flight information before coming to the airport."