Transport spokesperson Sarah Olney MP called for the government to deploy armed forces logistics specialists to work with the travel sector to alleviate pressures.

The plan would include running airport command centres and putting systems in place to ease road traffic and keep ports unblocked.

Earlier this week the Lib Dems called for a meeting of the Cobra ministerial committee to tackle the country’s “travel chaos”, and accused transport secretary Grant Shapps of being “asleep at the wheel” in handling the problem.

Olney said: “Chaotic scenes at airports up and down the country have been nothing short of a complete disaster. Families’ half-term getaways have been thrown into disarray and now they face the prospect of a long weekend spent sleeping in airports and sitting in traffic jams. 

“We need drastic action now to tackle this travel carnage and break the logjam. That’s why drafting Britain’s best and brightest logistics minds from the army to get things moving again is a no-brainer.

“Conservative ministers need to get a grip on this chaos at the eleventh hour to save the Jubilee weekend. Empowering the army to run point from a command centre would do just that.”