Ryanair Group Chief Executive Michael O’Leary has said that a big increase in fares between Ireland and Britain has nothing to do with the closure of Holyhead Port in Wales.
It has been shut since it was damaged during Storm Darragh earlier this month and it is not certain that it will reopen before Christmas.
Mr O’Leary told RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne that airline fares have “increased astronomically ahead of Christmas” because of the passenger cap at Dublin Airport and not due to the Holyhead closure.
“Already on Friday the 20th and on the 24th (of December) our fares one-way from London to Dublin are £500.
“It’s nothing to do with Holyhead. It’s entirely to do with a gross shortage of seats in and out of Dublin this Christmas because of the Dublin Airport cap.”
Mr O’Leary said there has been no increased for demand for flights as a result of the closure of Holyhead.
Ryanair still has around 5,000 seats available between now and Christmas Day, he added, and these would be available at much lower prices if it were not for the Dublin Airport passenger cap.
He welcomed the commitment by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to scrapping the cap.
Clarity on Holyhead situation ‘within next 24 hours’ – minister
Meanwhile a Welsh government minister has said Holyhead Port should be able to provide certainty within the next 24 hours on when it can reopen.
Investigations at the port are ongoing and divers are assessing the damage on a regular basis, Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales Ken Skates told the same programme.
In the meantime, he said, contingency plans are being rolled out,
“We’re identifying, collectively, the operators of the ferries and the ports across the UK.
“We’re identifying as much spare capacity as possible to be able to utilise other ports to get ferries to and from Ireland.”
Mr Skates said that an estimated 100,000 people return to Ireland at Christmas and a taskforce has been established to look at way of ensuring that they can all get home.
“Within the next 24 hours, we will have certainty, and we’ll be able to then implement very, very significant plans to be able to get as many people and goods back to Ireland as possible.”
He urged airlines to show empathy and not increase prices.
“It is not helpful when fares rise astronomically. So I’d appeal to those airlines not to increase fares given the severity of the situation.”
Ferry companies have been attempting to make alternative arrangements for Irish Sea crossings because of the Holyhead closure.
Irish Ferries said it was “actively engaging” with alternative ports in Britain to facilitate access for its vessels in order to try help “alleviate pressure on both freight and passenger markets”.
It has increased capacity on the Pembroke-Rosslare route.
Stena Line said that it had chartered a vessel to operate a new route between Dublin and Heysham in northern England.
Freight and passengers traffic have been “severely impacted” by the closure, the company added, with all of its Dublin-Holyhead sailings cancelled until Friday.
