Ryanair, has said that it has cancelled plans to operate five new routes from Dublin to mainland European cities, claiming a change in pricing at Dublin airport had made it too expensive. Earlier this month, the company began a public campaign designed to force Aer Rianta to lower its landing charges.

A spokesman for Aer Rianta said last night the company had given £26 million in airport charges discounts over the past four years, and expressed scepticism about the new routes.

Ryanair said the new destinations would have been in Germany, Italy, Sweden, Norway and the south of France, with fares starting at around £70 return. Ryanair said there was no way to verify independently that it had planned the routes, because the discussions had remained internal to the company.

"The decision to cancel these new low fare routes is in direct contrast to Ryanair's rapid development in the UK this year, with the introduction of seven new routes out of the UK in just under seven months," the company said. "The Aer Rianta plan to increase charges will be mean higher fares, fewer routes and less passengers through Dublin airport."

Ryanair's chief executive, Mr Michael O'Leary, said passenger numbers at Dublin airport had gone from 2.5 million a year to 10 million a year since his airline began 12 years ago, and that the State-owned airport company's profits had risen from £11.5 million to £40 million last year.

He said that of the 26 airports to which Ryanair flies, Dublin was the most expensive. A spokesman for Aer Rianta disputed this, saying that Ryanair's own accounts proved absolutely Dublin could not be the dearest airport.