Ryanair ‘no flights’ claim slated by Shropshire MEP Jill Seymour

Jill Seymour, who is Ukip's transport spokesman, said Mr O'Leary was simply demonstrating sour grapes with his comments which were made during a debate in Brussels.

Mrs Seymour, who represents the West Midlands constituency and sits on the EU transport committee, said she was sad that Mr O'Leary took such a short-sighted view.

“He told the committee that there is a distinct possibility that there could be no flights from the UK into the European Union following Brexit, which is frankly ludicrous," she said.

"As long as the demand exists for flights to popular holiday spots like Spain, France and Greece, they will, of course, continue.

“Mr O’Leary is merely scaremongering, and venting his frustration that he campaigned for the UK to remain in the EU – and lost.”

Mr O'Leary made the comments during a debate on the impact of Brexit on the aviation industry, with other speakers including Willie Walsh of British Airways and Lufthansa's vice-president Thomas Kropp.

The Ryanair boss told the committee the UK had no clue how it was going to negotiate a workable aviation deal with Brussels.

“If there is no deal, there will be no flights," he said. "There is not a legal mechanism on which the airlines can operate in a hard Brexit, no deal outcome.

“So there is no prospect of having some kind of higher prices at airports, or airlines for flights to the UK. There will simply be no flights.”

He told the EU's transport and tourism committee the only way to guarantee continued flights between the UK and the EU was to either retain the current "open skies" policy, or come to a bilateral trade agreement.

The Open Skies agreement allows EU airlines, including those registered in the UK, to operate in each other’s countries. Unlike other sectors, aviation cannot fall back on World Trade Organisation rules in the absence of a deal between the countries.