Brits don't want to be baggage handlers, the Ryanair boss has claimed amid staff shortages and planned strikes affecting airports across the country.
Michael O'Leary says his airline has been "completely unaffected" by the airport chaos this summer as other British airlines have cancelled hundreds of flights partly due to staff shortages.
However, Mr O'Leary said Ryanair was prepared for the return of the pre-pandemic levels of travel and got staff back to work early.
He further claimed that, unlike his competitors, the Irish company can take advantage can of the European labour market and is not faced with British workers refusing to "pick fruit or work in hospitality, security and baggage handling at airports".
He told The Daily Telegraph that Ryanair has been "completely unaffected" as he saw the recovery coming "early".
He added: "I'm not re-campaigning on Brexit, but the UK is going to have to find a way to open up the Labour market between the UK and Europe, to get people in here to do the jobs which frankly British people don't want to do.
"They don't want to pick fruit, they don't want to do agricultural labour, they don't want to do hospitality or security or baggage handling at airports."
Mr O'Leary added: "We made sure, even if we had flights with no passengers, we sent up pilots and cabin crew.
"We sent everybody flying at least once a month. We didn't dump them all at home and say, 'We'll call you in 18 months when this is all over'".
Between May 7 and June 6, the airline only had three cancellations out of its 13,099 flights, compared to the 142 out of 13,010 British Airways flights and 636 out of 16, 425 EasyJet flights.
However, the airline still faces disruption in Europe as cabin crew began a three-day walkout in Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain yesterday.
In Belgium, Ryanair had to cancel 127 flights between Friday and Sunday at Charleroi airport near Brussels.
It comes as thousands of British Airways staff have voted to go on strike in a furious row over pay.
Check-in workers at Heathrow backed walkouts after executives refused to reinstate a 10% wage cut brought in during Covid, despite claims managers got theirs back.
Hundreds of check-in workers at Heathrow airport voted by an overwhelming 95% to walk out in a row over pay – sparking the prospect of holiday chaos for millions of Brits.
And the dispute could escalate as 16,000 other BA staff are threatening to strike.
It comes after shocking pictures of an 'enormous luggage carpet' in a Heathrow luggage hall show the continuing pressures UK airports are facing as travel chaos continues.
Passengers across the country complained of mass disruption, with long queues outside terminals with many losing hundreds of pounds due to missed flights.
