DUBLIN: Ryanair will put unneeded British staff on unpaid leave if the UK government does not provide a "proper" furlough scheme, Group Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said on Thursday, as Britain prepares to change its COVID-19 job supports.

"We want to keep our pilots and cabin crew employed and paid and we are going to have to have huge government assistance for that, otherwise I'm afraid they're all going to go on unpaid leave for the winter," O'Leary told Sky News television.