They added: “We have also seen immediate problems with red list arrivals, with many customers booking hotels which either were not ready or had been double booked, requiring them to rebook and pay again. Many people are stranded abroad through no fault of their own, due to a policy that cannot be executed properly.

“We urgently request you meet with us, to understand the problems that we and our customers are now facing because of these measures, which the Transport Secretary himself admitted risked ‘killing off’ the travel industry. We urge you to act now to prevent this from happening.”

The chief executives and managing directors that signed the letter were Andrew Flintham of Tui, Sean Doyle of British Airways, Eddie Wilson of Ryanair, Johan Lundgren of easyJet, Shai Weiss of Virgin Atlantic, Steve Heapy of Jet2, and Tim Alderslade of Airlines UK.

A Government spokesman said: “Our top priority is protecting public health and we continue to keep our travel measures under review. We recognise that these temporary restrictions are challenging for the travel and tourism industry. 

“That is why businesses have been able to draw from an unprecedented £350 billion package of government support since the start of the pandemic, including around £8 billion for the air transport sector.”