Speaking at the Abta Travel Convention in the Azores, Dominic Tucker said passengers “pay so much in APD, why couldn’t the government hike off some of the money that’s been paid into that.”

Elsewhere, Tucker dismissed last month’s attack on Norwegian by Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary, who had accused the carrier of “running out of cash”.

“From a financial point of view - we have 140 of their pilots that came across to us. So there’s no basis to his comments,” he pointed out to delegates.

Tucker also dismissed O’Leary’s comparisons to Monarch, insisting: “We had different business models. We’re not having any problems at the moments”.

Meanwhile Tucker urged the government to expedite Brexit negotiations, admitting: “My gut feeling is that nothing is happening quickly enough. It still has to be done. Something will have to happen – I’m just not sure how.”

He also rejected O’Leary’s criticism that Brexit would affect Norwegian, adding: “We are less Brexit challenged than they are because our businesses have many bases across Europe”.