British Airways has lost its website and doesn't know when its coming back.

The site crashed offline at about 6am UK time and technical staff are still working out what the problem is, according to a spokesman.

The airline apologised to customers and suggested they hit the phone and use the call centre (0844 493 0 787) rather than trying to book tickets online.

The homepage was back online at the time of writing, with an apology for inconvenience caused by technical problems. Most other functions and pages, were unavailable.

Losing a website would not have mattered a couple of years ago, but with most passengers now checking in and reserving seats online, this is likely to cause BA customers - and its airport staff - some serious hassle.

Update: The site was back up and working from about 1pm UK time. ®

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