Air travel regulator the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had backed the changes, saying they would improve safety for UK passengers flying on some European airlines.

And it dismissed the union's claims that under some circumstances - with standby and flying time combined - pilots could be awake for 22-hours.

"It is important to understand this scenario will almost never happen," a CAA spokesman said.

They do need to ban zero hour contacts for pilots. It encourages then to fly even when they're not feeling up to it.

That shouldn't affect me any more