The new partnership means customers can now use Ryanair.com to browse and book Air Europa flights on 20 long haul routes from Madrid to 16 countries in the Americas, including Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico and the US with departures effective immediately.

Air Europa UK director Colin Stewart said by signing the deal the airline is hoping to give the brand a boost with both the British public and beyond.

He added: “We are a B2B trade business and that will continue. What this does for us is give us exposure to 130 million Ryanair customers.

“It is a whole new way of us reaching a new audience. It is a really big opportunity for us and we hope this exposure will let more people know who we are and where we fly to and we hope this will drive business in the UK.

“I would expect to see a growth in passenger numbers in the UK market as a result of this partnership.”

While the opportunity to book via the Ryanair.com website is available now, through-ticketing is not yet available, meaning customers would need to collect their bags and recheck in before taking the long-haul leg of their flight.

They would also need to book each leg of the trip individually and could also find themselves financially exposed in the event their Ryanair feeder flight was delayed.

A Ryanair spokesman said through-ticketing would be introduced “later this year” but didn’t specify exactly when.

Javier Hidalgo, the chief executive of Globalia Group which owns the airline, said: “This partnership with Ryanair gives us great satisfaction, and it puts us at the forefront of business and allows us to strengthen our competitiveness.

“With this agreement Air Europa doubles its connectivity with the European continent adding 53 European cities.”