Sir Stephen Hillier, chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, said the travel industry is at an “inflection point” and needs global co-operation ahead of the “widespread” adoption of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOLs) designed to carry passengers on short trips.

His comments come after UK airspace struggled to cope with conventional passenger jets during a summer of delays compounded by the failure of the country’s air traffic control system over the August bank holiday, which grounded hundreds of aircraft and delayed thousands of passengers.