Speaking at the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit in Madrid, the Ryanair boss said the only solution to the capacity problems in the UK’s south east was to take the politicians out of it.

This would then allow the airports to do as they wished, while the British public and other travellers could vote with their feet.

O’Leary said: “The problem with the debate in London (over where to site the new runway) is it’s been high-jacked by the politicians.

“We have three competing airports in London and they all want to build another runway and they should all be allowed to build.

Turkish Airlines president and chief executive Temel Kotil added that the delay on building a new runway in the UK’s south east was a concern for the whole of Europe, not just the UK.

He said: “Heathrow is best placed to serve the Atlantic (routes). If it was developed… they would have everyone’s business in Europe.”

O’Leary added he was confident of Ryanair’s future in Europe, despite the best efforts of politicians to meddle with the industry’s affairs.

He said: “The politicians will continue to foul it (the tourism industry) up but at Ryanair we’ll continue to move faster than politicians think, which admittedly isn’t setting the bar very high.”

Meanwhile, Darren Huston, the president and chief executive of The Priceline Group, urged Europe to start simplifying the rules and regulations across the continent to make it easier to do business.

He said this could take the form of reviewing local taxes in the session on whether or not tourism In Europe requires reinvention for the modern era while also looking at its infrastructure.

The conversation was held as a report published today by the WTTC released a report showing that despite €2.1 trillion expected to be invested in European tourism infrastructure in the next decade, poor existing infrastructure was already a problem.

The report, entitled European Travel and Tourism: Where are the greatest current and future investment needs, added that of the 41 countries reviewed, the UK Germany and Austria are the best placed for the future.

David Scowsill, president and chief executive of the WTTC, said: “Travel and tourism is one of Europe’s great sectors – it creates wealth and supports jobs and is a key to recovery for those countries hardest hit by recession and the Eurozone crisis.

“Our sector is forecast to add five million jobs and $500 billion in GDP contributions over the next 10 years, with the sector due to grow as fast or faster than every European economy.”

“However, the potential of our sector to create jobs, financial security and economic wealth can only be met with sufficient and effective investment to support this demand.”