He said a "practical" approach would allow more workers from Europe to fill vacancies, which he claimed would help stem the disruption to air travel.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, O’Leary said: "I can hire thousands of people in Portugal, in Italy, France, Germany at exactly the same wages that I’m paying in the UK and I just can’t hire them in the UK at the moment.

"And we have this bizarre situation at the moment that in the UK I can get visas to bring Moroccans to come in and work as cabin crew. But I can’t get visas for Portuguese or Italians or Slovakian youngsters. We just need a bit of more common sense and a practical approach to how we implement Brexit."

O’Leary claimed "there are not enough people" in the UK "willing to do these jobs", particularly during peak periods of the summer and in airports.

A government spokesperson reportedly said: "Leaving the EU enabled us to introduce a points-based immigration system and we want to see employers make long-term investments in the UK’s domestic workforce, such as training, wage increases and better career options, instead of relying on labour from abroad."