Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has dismissed fears about the effects of global warming and denies the aviation sector is contributing to the phenomenon.
Mr O'Leary yesterday rejected criticism by a British government minister about his airline's environmental record as foolish and ill-informed and said Ryanair was the "cleanest and greenest" airline in Europe.
British environment minister Ian Pearson had earlier branded Ryanair as "the irresponsible face of capitalism" for its failure to take climate change seriously. In a newspaper interview, he described Mr O'Leary's attitude as "completely off the wall".
Mr O'Leary has vowed to boycott EU plans to include all flights within Europe in a carbon-trading scheme designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
These are due to come into force in 2011, with all international flights starting or ending in the EU being included in the scheme a year later. The scheme will push up the cost of transatlantic fares by up to €40 a passenger.
The EU says emissions from aviation account for about 3 per cent of EU greenhouse gas emissions, almost double the amount in 1990. Last year's Stern report put the figure at 1.6 per cent.
The European Commission however says EU emissions from air transport are rising faster than any other sector, although Mr O'Leary yesterday said this was not the case.
The commission estimates a return transatlantic air journey generates the same level of emissions as a year's home heating for a person.
Ryanair bases its claim to green credentials on an investment of $10 billion (€7.7 billion) in a fleet of fuel-efficient aircraft which reduce fuel burn by half and CO2 emissions by 50 per cent per passenger.
As a result, Mr O'Leary argued, Ryanair was "not part of the problem". He said being attacked by the politician was like being "savaged by a dead sheep".
"Ryanair will continue to be Europe's greenest airline while opposing these so-called 'environmental taxes', which are just another way of greedy politicians grabbing more money from ordinary passengers while doing nothing at all for the environment."
Speaking on RTÉ radio, he rejected concerns about climate change as "mindless and stupid lies being put about by environmentalists and idiot politicians".
He pointed to a survey by Dutch consumer organisation Consumentenbond, which last month found that Ryanair had the lowest CO2 emissions per passenger of any airline. This was because it used more fuel-efficient aircraft and its flights tended to be full, so the emissions per passenger were lower.
Aer Lingus also defended its record on fuel emissions, saying it operated a "very active" fuel conservation programme and had invested heavily in new, cleaner aircraft. A spokeswoman said it was "considering" the EU proposal to include aviation in the emission trading system.
Minister for Environment Dick Roche warned that any new EU policy must not stifle the "extraordinary innovation" shown by air carriers. He believed the EU proposals were better than introducing a carbon tax, his spokesman said.
