The airline has hinted in the past that it may enter the package business and a spokesperson confirmed to TTG that this would likely now be the case.

“That [Ryanair Holidays] will be the natural evolution, possibly within 18 to 24 months,” a spokesperson admitted.

Bed bank Ryanair Rooms is slated to launch on October 1, 2016 with the airline inviting interested parties to submit proposals to become partners.

The launch of an accommodation arm follows that of Ryanair Car Hire in August 2015, which saw the Irish carrier team up with CarTrawler.

Branching out from offering only flights and into holidays has proved lucrative for other airlines.

The likes of Virgin Holidays and British Airways Holidays are already well established, with the latter having quietly become the seventh largest Atol holder.

Ryanair rival easyJet has been offering holidays since 2011 – first outsourcing to Lowcosttravelgroup and then to Tui Group’s Hotelopia.

Ryanair’s chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs said: “More and more customers are looking to Ryanair for products other than flights, and we see this as a natural progression towards Ryanair.com becoming the Amazon of air travel.

“It also echoes the change in demand from customers for different types of accommodation, which in turn will be reflected by the varied range Ryanair Rooms will offer – from five-star hotel rooms to independent homestays.”

The expansion is part of the company’s Always Getting Better campaign, which was launched to try and improve the perception of the Ryanair brand.

When the carrier made its full-year results announcement in May, it attributed the upsurge in passenger numbers to the initiative.