József Váradi, Wizz Air’s chief executive, said there was an ‘anti-executive pay sentiment’ in the UK - Hollie Adams/Bloomberg

Britain is opposed to rewarding chief executives with the generous pay deals needed to retain top talent, the boss of Wizz Air has said.

József Váradi, who received a pay package totalling €3.8m (£3.3m) last year, spoke out after 28pc of the airline’s shareholders voted against its remuneration report on Wednesday.

He said: “There is a kind of an anti-executive pay sentiment in the UK, whether we like it or not.

“Some people take a different view on social paradigms. But we cannot ignore the fact that executive pay is a matter of retention, and you have to retain your talents in the company.

“As far as I’m concerned we have a very fair and equitable system for addressing performance and realities, and the need to retain top talents.”

Wizz Air, which is based in Hungary but listed in London, has suffered a shareholder backlash over executive pay in recent years.

Its share price has slumped 45pc over the past year after demand for flights in its core market of Eastern Europe was hurt by the war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East led to the disruption of services to Israel.

Unexpected wear and tear to the Pratt & Whitney engines on Wizz Air’s jets – caused by the use of contaminated powdered metal during manufacturing – has also forced it to ground about a fifth of the fleet for repairs at any one time.

The impact of the setbacks was revealed last month, when Wizz said operating profit in the year through March had dropped to barely a third of the previous total, triggering a stock rout that saw £480m wiped off its market value.

Mr Váradi’s pay for the year through March included €2.3m in shares awarded as the prospect of securing a £100m long-term bonus faded. The latter payout requires shares in Wizz Air to hit £120, a distant prospect with it trading at just £11 on Thursday.

Mr Váradi said Wizz Air’s executive pay is benchmarked to airline industry norms.

He added: “We have never been down-voted on anything. Which British government has even been elected with 70pc of the vote?

“What it tells me is that the majority of investors support the direction we are taking, but there is a minority – not a negligible minority – that is not overly happy.”

Mr Váradi’s remarks add to an ongoing debate over executive salaries after Julia Hoggett, the chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, said Britain was being held back by a campaign against high pay and that a “constructive discussion” was required.Julia Hoggett, chief executive of London Stock Exchange, believes Britain is being held back by a campaign against high pay - Hollie Adams/Bloomberg

Burberry came under fire in May after it was revealed that Joshua Schulman, its new chief executive, was paid almost £2.6m in his first nine months in the job, and stands to make £5.6m this year if he meets bonus targets – even as the luxury fashion brand cuts up to 1,700 jobs.

Michael O’Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair, qualified for a bonus of more than €100m earlier this year after the Irish carrier’s shares traded above a specified level for a 28th straight day, despite it reporting a 16pc drop in annual profit.

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Mr Váradi said Wizz Air had no plans to review its London listing despite saying last year that the City had “lost a bit of its mojo when it comes to capitalism”.

He added: “We know that there is market speculation happening through short sellers, but once we get rid of the uncertainties we will stabilise that and also get more solid results in the stock exchange.

“Yes, we are going through some rougher waters right now, but we have a very solid, loyal investor base.”

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