Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary told The Telegraph the budget carrier would get behind an effort by Manchester Airports Group (MAG) to encourage the government to make the system more transparent.

Several other airlines and travel industry stakeholders are understood to have backed the challenge, which will be officially filed on Thursday (17 June).

"I have no faith in [Boris] Johnson’s government on any of these issues, having completely mismanaged the original lockdowns last year and the reopening now," O’Leary told The Telegraph.

"We know they did do a great job on vaccines, but largely because they gave it to the private sector."

Ryanair on Wednesday (16 June) accused Boris Johnson of "mismanaging" the pandemic and the reopening of the UK economy, with O’Leary branding the UK government’s policy on travel "a shambles".

"The green list is no-existent because countries such as Malta and Portugal, with lower Covid case numbers than the UK and rapidly rising vaccination rates, remain on amber," he said.

"Meanwhile, UK citizens continue to face Covid restrictions on travel to and from the EU, despite the fact that the majority of European Union citizens will also be vaccinated by the end of June."

Charlie Cornish, chief executive of Manchester Airports Group, added: "The government is not being open and we simply cannot understand how it is making decisions that are fundamental to our ability to plan, and to giving customers the confidence to book travel ahead."