Ryanair is to add an extra 50,000 seats between London and Belfast this Christmas.
The move is aimed at compensating for the restrictions on the number of flights it will be able to operate into and out of Dublin over the festive period due to the passenger cap at that airport.
The airline claims that traditionally it would have had an additional 270,000 seats to and from Dublin during the busy holiday season.
But because Dublin Airport has reached its 32 million passengers a year cap, the aviation regulator has had to impose limits on the number of discretionary flights over the winter period, including Christmas.
Ryanair has repeatedly warned that its fares in and out of Dublin could rise significantly over Christmas due to the issue and has urged intending passengers to book early.
"Currently today in late August, our lowest fares from London to Dublin on Friday 20, Saturday 21 or Sunday 22 December are rapidly approaching €100 one-way due to this Government's failure to allow airlines to run extra flights to/from Dublin this Christmas," Ryanair CEO, Michael O’Leary, said this weekend.
However some, including Minister of State at the Department of Transport James Lawless, have questioned why the airline feels it has no choice but to put its prices up due to the shortage of seats.
Mr O’Leary has called many times for the Government to take action to lift the cap.
It was put in place in 2007 as part of the conditions for the planning permission for Terminal 2, due to concerns about the ability of the road network around the airport to cope with the traffic volumes that would arise with more than 32 million passengers using the facility.
Ryanair has argued that since the condition was put in place, the numbers of people using public transport to get to and from the airport has risen markedly, so road congestion is not an issue.
Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan has said many times that he cannot legally interfere with what is an independent planning process.
In a weekend interview, chief executive of Dublin Airport operator daa Kenny Jacobs warned the cap could cost the Irish tourist economy €500m next year and put up to 1,000 aviation jobs at risk.
Daa has submitted a fresh planning application which if approved would see the passenger cap lifted to 40 million a year, but it is expected to take several years to be adjudicated upon.
Environmentalists are opposed to the lifting of the passenger cap at the airport due to the impact a growing number of passengers and flights would have on carbon emissions.
Some local residents near the airport also oppose the idea due to the effect it could have on increasing aircraft noise, pollution and congestion.
