He said there were fears that airline passenger numbers may not recover to 2019 levels until 2025.

There were proposals to enhance the intelligence services' access to airline passenger lists.

With airline passenger numbers expanding at 6 per cent a year, they see it as essential to growth.

Like-for-like sales rose by 3.4 per cent for the full year, although the second half was up 6 per cent as airline passenger numbers started to recover and spend-per-head improved.

It calculates that, for each mile travelled, an airline passenger emits four times as much carbon dioxide as a rail passenger.