But Mr Legget said he was confident in the long-term outlook for travel and has taken recent share price weakness in Jet2 as an opportunity to top up the fund’s holding in the airline and holiday package provider.

“We don’t know how bad this omicron wave is going to be but we know we will get to the other side,” he said. “Airlines burn cash when they are grounded, but for the majority of these companies January and February are not profitable anyway.”

Mr Legget added that if Britain was to follow similar patterns in America and China, travel would revert to old habits very quickly as consumers reschedule trips.

“When we can travel without restriction again in Britain, there will be 10 to 15pc fewer aeroplanes. The airlines with the ability to get through this should emerge in a stronger place,” he added. “We remain optimistic that in time IAG, Ryanair and Jet2 will generate more profit than they have in the past.”

Eric Burns, chief analyst at the £1.6bn Sanford DeLand UK Buffettology fund, favoured Jet2 over pure-play airlines. “It is dominant in secondary and tertiary airports around Britain,” he said. “Rather than compete in the crowded London airports, Jet2 has built a niche flying from airports that have been underserved by other holiday businesses. This gives it a bit of a moat and pricing power.”

Analysts at the broker Jefferies highlighted Jet2 as their “best pick” in the sector, describing it as the “market share winner”.