Foreign pilots to be allowed two-year visas to plug Australian shortage.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (left) and Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton speak during a press conference in April 2017

Foreign pilots will reportedly be allowed two-year working visas by the government in a move designed to address a worsening national shortage.

Foreign pilots will be allowed into Australia on working visas to help address a shortage that threatens to continue grounding planes and cancelling flights.

The move by Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, which follows lobbying by the peak body for regional airlines, would allow the pilots access to working visas by revising the government's skilled occupation list, The Australian reported on Thursday.

Mr Dutton is reportedly in discussions with the Regional Aviation Association of Australia about extending the period to four years.

Shadow Minister for Transport Anthony Albanese said the move was proof the government had "dropped the ball".

"The fact is that the government has dropped the ball as Australia should be producing enough skilled pilots for Australian airlines as well as training pilots for the global industry which in our region will expand massively," he told reporters on Thursday.

"We need to have Australian skills here across this sector and that is why there is an inter relationship between advanced and civil aviation."