Walsh: May power failure will cost British Airways nearly £80 million

The IT meltdown that left thousands of passengers stranded in London’s airports in late May will cost British Airways nearly £80 million ($102 million), according to the airline’s chief executive, Willie Walsh.

“On May 27 British Airways suffered a power failure to its primary data center which led to severe disruption to its flights. Our initial assessment of the gross costs of the disruption is in the order of £80 million. We will update the market at the appropriate time with more details,” he said at the company’s annual shareholders meeting.

British Airways is an affiliated company of International Airlines Group, which also include Aer Lingus, Vueling and Spain’s Iberia.

Last month, BA faced a three-day disruption at London’s Heathrow and Gatwick Airports following a power surge that caused the whole IT system to crash.

The company had to cancel all the flights from the two airports, making thousands of people spend the night in the terminals.

Walsh apologized again for the incident.

“I know it was a dreadful experience for many of our customers,” he said.

The company has launched an investigation “to learn from the experience,” according to Walsh.