Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has said it will take up to six months to refund passengers for flights cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

He told the BBC the airline was struggling to process a backlog of 25 million refunds with reduced staff.

However, he pledged: "If you want a cash refund, you will receive a cash refund."

Ryanair is set to cut 3,000 jobs - 15% of its workforce - as it restructures to cope with the coronavirus crisis.

It said the 3,000 posts under threat were mainly pilot and cabin crew jobs.

There are likely to be pay cuts of up to 20% for remaining staff, the airline added.

Mr O'Leary told the BBC that the planned cuts were "the minimum that we need just to survive the next 12 months".

He said that if a vaccine was not found, "we may have to announce more cuts and deeper cuts in future".

The restructuring could involve closing some UK regional hubs, Mr O'Leary said, but he would not say which ones were at risk.

He said Ryanair hoped to announce details of job losses and pay cuts by 1 July.