Cruz said airline passengers regularly enduring two-hour queues at passport control was unacceptable.

The BA chief executive said the situation at Heathrow, in particularly, had hit “crisis point”.

In a letter to The Times, Cruz said: “Two-hour queues are fast becoming the norm for those visiting from outside the European Economic Area.

“Even EEA citizens wait almost an hour. This is unacceptable.”

Cruz dismissed government plans for British-only passport queues, branding them a diversion, and urged ministers to get on with addressing the delays.

Earlier this year, it was reported the Home Office had drafted in hundreds of additional staff to act as makeshift border officials.

The Home Office currently aims to ensure 95% of EEA passengers through passport control within 25 minutes and those from the rest of the world in 45 minutes.

Cruz though said Heathrow missed this target for non-EEA arrivals 8,298 times last year and already more than 6,000 times this year.

A spokesperson for Heathrow airport said: “Heathrow is Britain’s front door and it should be welcoming as well as secure. It takes far too long for low risk passengers who have a right to be here, to get through the Border which is unacceptable.

"We are calling on the home secretary to allow low risk passengers from non-EU countries such as the US and Canada to use e-gates, in the same way as our EU friends can.

"It is this approach that will demonstrate Britain is truly open for business in a post Brexit world, helping to end the current situation.”