MICHAEL O’LEARY HAS said the price of a one-way fares between Dublin and London could cost up to €500 this Christmas due to issues arising out of the controversial passenger cap at Dublin Airport.

Fare increases could continue into next summer if the cap at Dublin Airport does not change and allow for a higher volume of planes to arrive and depart from the location, he added.

Speaking to RTÉ Radio One this morning, the Ryanair boss said a number of times that he believed Transport Minister Eamon Ryan was “incompetent” and called for Taoiseach Simon Harris to intervene to make the change.

The change he, the airport operators DAA and a number of other stakeholders are looking for is an increase to the 32 million passenger cap at the location or for it to be totally scrapped. There is hesitancy to do so over emissions concerns.

Fingal County Council are in charge of planning permission for the cap, but the Government can step in on occasion.

The DAA has previously said that it is considering an application for Dublin Airport to be recognised as strategic infrastructure, in order to bypass planning permission procedures from Fingal.

Recently, Ryanair and Aer Lingus also recieved permission from the High Court to challenge the passenger cap.

Dublin Airport has been operating at capacity for some time and, as a result, airlines are not guaranteed that the ‘slots’ – or flight times. Airlines apply for these slots and Dublin Airport award them accordingly. 

Some airlines argue that the cap is impacting their businesses as a result, as the airport cannot award every slot that is applied for.

DAA management have previously said that the delay in JetBlue, an American airliner, entering the Irish market was because there were not enough slots left to make operations profitable in Dublin.

O’Leary, the budget airline chief, said it does not make sense to him that the Government invested in a second runway at Dublin which he believes will go underused if the cap remains in place. 

He called the passenger cap “ridiculous” and “idiotic” and lashed out against Minister for Transport Eamonn Ryan over the rule.

Challenged that Ryan intervening would overrule planning laws and result in higher emissions, O’Leary said evidence exists that the airport can handle more than 32 million passengers per year and that the restriction is not a law, but a limit.

He claimed that Ryanair’s planes emit less emissions and that there would “only” be around a 25% increase in emissions if the cap was scrapped.

O’Leary said: “Dublin Airport has opened a second runway now. There’s capacity there for 50 or 60 million passengers a year.

“The industry could double traffic coming and going from Dublin Airport. And remember, 50% to 60% of this traffic is inbound, it’s visitors coming here, sustaining jobs in hotels.

“The Government is talking about raising the minimum wage in the hotel and hospitality sector – the only way you’re going to pay that is to deliver additional growth but the Green minister doesn’t want to do anything,” he added.