The IT failure, put down to a power surge, could cost BA as much as £100 million in compensation claims, but Walsh said Cruz did "everything possible" in the crisis, ITV News reports.

"I’m pleased that British Airways has been able to recover from the significant disruption that they faced on Saturday," he told reporters.

"I think the team at British Airways, under the leadership of Alex Cruz, has done everything possible to get British Airways back flying a full schedule as quickly as possible. We clearly apologise to any of our customers who were disrupted."

He confirmed that the issue was caused by an electrical power failure and said an investigation into the matter "will take some time".

The BA board is reportedly set to seek an independent inquiry into the IT problem after back-up systems also failed and the National Grid and local energy providers said there had been no supply issues on Saturday.

The carrier was unable to resume a full schedule until Tuesday and many passengers who had already checked in when the issue emerged are still waiting to be reunited with their luggage.