RYANAIR IS CLAIMING to be the first European airline to transport eight million passengers in one month.

The Belfast Telegraph reports that the budget airline’s figures grew 6 per cent in the last year, and that 8.1 million people flew Ryanair in July.

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has today lashed out at the €3 travel tax, which transport minister Leo Varadkar has said will be staying in place for the time being.

O’Leary said that Ireland is losing out because of the tax and high airport costs reports RTÉ. O’Leary gave a press conference today and said that Dublin Airport Authority costs had increased by 40 per cent and that passenger numbers are down.

Ryanair released a statement yesterday in the wake of Minister Varadkar’s announcement that the travel tax would be reviewed again in the spring, which accused the government of wasting more than €100 million a year in tourism marketing:

No marketing spend can hide the fact that the main Irish airports are high cost, and traffic will continue to decline as a result of the DAA’s 40 per cent increase in airport charges and the travel tax. The truth behind the Department’s statement is that despite all the promises of ‘change and reform’ the Department of Transport still won’t tackle the high cost DAA monopoly, which the [Department of Transport] supports and protects.

Ryanair said that “outbound passengers are somehow less valuable than inbound passengers”.