Aer Lingus flights still cost up to 10 times as much as rival Ryanair despite the State airline's much publicised ticket sale. A Dublin businessman booking a return flight to Paris next Monday was quoted £60 (€76.18) by Ryanair compared to £614 by Aer Lingus.

Mr Sean Barron is managing director of Flairline Fashions, which owns four Grafton Street stores, including Pamela Scott and Richard Alan, and regularly sends up to six buyers every week to Paris.

He used to spend around £60,000 a year with Aer Lingus but began using Ryanair, British Midlands and other lower fare airlines several years ago.

Mr Barron said he wanted to support Aer Lingus given the company's current troubles but from a business perspective, could not justify buying the higher priced ticket.

"The sales pitch is that all flights to Europe are £99 in the current promotion, but I knew there would be restrictions so I was happy to pay £250-£300," he said. "But you could not, as a proper business judgment, pay 10 times the price that a competitor is offering."

The Aer Lingus ticket sale was introduced to boost passenger numbers after the fall-off which followed the September 11th terrorist attacks in the United States.

Conditions attached to the cut-price fares on the Dublin-Paris route include a minimum two-night or Saturday stay.

Mr Barron needed to fly out on Monday and return the same day and said no effort was made to retain his custom when he explained his situation.

"I am so disappointed. I wanted to do business with them but they are not in the real world."

Aer Lingus spokesman Dan Loughrey said the company's ticket sale had proven extremely popular with 50,000 seats sold in the space of a week.

"We've managed to satisfy a lot of people in this promotion but obviously we have a range of fares and a range of conditions and they can't all be at this level.

"If someone else can offer a seat to Paris for £60, then I can only assume they had plenty of empty seats on the route that day that they needed to fill."

Mr Loughrey said Aer Lingus had already extended to December 14th the period of travel for flights booked in the sale, which continues until this Thursday. He said other conditions would be kept under review.