Return flights to Dublin Airport could cost €1,000 this Christmas due to the passenger cap at Dublin Airport, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has claimed.
Mr O’Leary told the Oireachtas Transport Committee that while the Government would be "blamed" for the drastic price hikes, it "suits me fine".
"I'll make a fortune this Christmas," he added.
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Representatives from Ryanair were in front of TDs and Senators to discuss the passenger cap at Dublin Airport.
daa has lodged a planning application to increase its 32m passenger cap to 40m. Several complaints, including some observations from Green Party politicians, have been lodged to Fingal County Council.
The Ryanair boss argued that it would take four years for the application to be assessed.
Mr O’Leary has continuously called for Transport Minister Eamon Ryan to scrap the cap. However, the Green Party leader has said that he will not interfere with the planning process.
At the Transport Committee, Mr O’Leary stated that Ryanair’s request for an additional 514,000 seats at Dublin Airport as part of its winter schedule have been declined.
This includes 270,000 seats at Christmastime, 130,000 seats for St Patrick’s Day, 90,000 seats for the February mid-term, 10,000 seats for Cheltenham and 7,000 seats for both the Six Nations and Premier League.
Mr O’Leary warned that the rejected slots will hit travellers in the pocket this Christmas.
"There is going to be a massive crisis here this Christmas," he told the politicians.
"We have applied for all our slots for this winter including the extra slots that we routinely run for extra flights in the October school mid-term, Christmas, Cheltenham, the rugby internationals. We didn't get any of those extra slots because we're up at the traffic cap.
"The fares to and from Dublin this Christmas will be probably €500 and €1,000 return. The government and politicians are going to get the blame for it.
"It suits me fine. If you cap Dublin Airport, we’ll make out like bandits. I'll make a fortune this Christmas.
"Airlines are traditionally criticised that, ‘Well, you just put up all your fares at Christmas’. We don't actually but because we're busy, all the inbound fares to Dublin are high. We keep them down by adding 270,000 extra flights."
Mr O’Leary stated that the cap was introduced in 2007 when Terminal 2 was opened. He stated that the "concern at that stage was that the road around Dublin Airport would become blocked and choked".
"There was no public infrastructure for getting people to Dublin Airport," he continued.
"The Dublin Metro was going to come and rescue us all, I will be dead by the time the Dublin Metro finally gets here, if it ever gets to Dublin Airport."
Mr O’Leary argued that the number of bus links to Dublin Airport has increased and there is now "no need for a traffic cap".
He accused daa of "mismanaging" Dublin Airport. He suggested it should have applied for permission to increase the cap sooner. He was also critical that it has not opened more parking and is spending €250m on a new "tunnel" at the airport.
A spokesman for the daa disputed several of Mr O’Leary’s claims, suggesting that there is "no reason why it should take four years to get permission to grow Dublin Airport beyond 32m passengers".
"If adding more parking at Dublin Airport was as simple as Mr O’Leary suggests then we would have done it already," he said.
"To add parking spaces, you need planning permission and the local planning laws state that no more additional parking spaces are currently allowed in the vicinity of Dublin Airport. We have considered and continue to explore every viable option to increase the number of parking spaces available to our passengers."
