British Airways lost my father (and his luggage too...)

Zafer Ghadban, 83, is seriously ill in hospital after a series of blunders meant he missed a connecting flight and was abandoned in the terminal building.

To make matters worse, BA is yet to return the frail pensioner's luggage nearly three weeks after his ordeal began.

Mr Ghadban, who lives in Canada, had been visiting relatives in Jordan and was on his way home when he arrived at Heathrow for a routine eight-hour stopover.

However, airline staff - who had been given special instructions on looking after Mr Ghadban - decided he required treatment to an injured foot and ordered he be taken to hospital.

By the time the pensioner returned to the airport he had missed his connecting flight but no arrangements had been made for where he should stay.

Dazed and confused, he lay on a bench in Terminal Four and, after waking from a fitful night's sleep, suffered a stroke.

He fell, breaking his hip, and was taken back to hospital, where he is now expected to remain for several months.

From his bedside last night, Mr Ghadban's daughter Mimi, a 33-year-old communications manager from South London, described BA's conduct as 'quite incredible'.

"My father speaks very little English and is clearly vulnerable," she said.

"But when he missed his flight nobody thought to contact his family to tell us what had happened or where he was.

"Neither had anyone thought to book him on another flight home, help him find a hotel or even check that he was okay. He just got lost in the system."

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Mr Ghadban, who was recovering from a toe amputation, arrived at Heathrow at 11am on July 22 and was due to catch a flight to Montreal at 7.45pm.

But as he waited in the transfer lounge, a member of BA staff noticed that a bandage on his foot appeared to be covered with blood and deemed him unfit to fly.

It has since emerged that the stain was actually red dye used during treatment in Jordan.

Mr Ghadban was taken by paramedics to Hillingdon Hospital in West London and discharged at 10pm.

He returned to the airport at 10.45pm, though his family and BA still do not know how he got there.

A BA spokesman claimed its 'duty of care' to Mr Ghadban ended when he was declared unfit to fly and sent to hospital - even though he was likely to miss his flight.

Mr Ghadban, who needs a hip operation, is unable to return to Canada because his family cannot afford the £20,000 it will cost to transport him home.

His daughter said: "He didn't buy travel insurance so it looks as though we will have to pay for him to have an operation here."

She added that she is yet to receive either an apology from BA or information about her father's missing luggage, which travelled on the flight to Canada without him.

A BA spokesman said: "British Airways takes the comfort and dignity of all customers seriously.

"It is the airline's policy to offer assistance at the airport to all passengers with restricted mobility-We are currently investigating the complaint."

Passengers complained of chaos at Gatwick airport yesterday, with queues of more than two hours to pass through immigration.

Baggage was reportedly stacked up in the hallways as thousands faced a miserable end to their holidays.

Kathy Winton, a company director who arrived on a flight from Las Vegas, said: "It was chaotic. - the worst I've experienced since 9/11."

The airport's owner BAA was unable to provide an explanation for the queues last night.