Executive chairman of Emerald Airlines Conor McCarthy has said the delays to approving a larger passenger cap at Dublin Airport "make no sense whatsoever".
Dublin Airport is allowed to have a maximum of 32 million passengers a year under planning rules.
The airport is getting closer to the cap as demand for flights increases and it has called for the cap to be increased.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne programme, Mr McCarthy said the cap must be increased.
"This is a vital piece of national infrastructure, it's just had €320m of money spent on a brand-new runway and the cap was set many years ago and the daa are applying for an increase in that cap," Mr McCarthy said.
He said the cap has "actually nothing to do with the very vital climate agenda that we’re all following, but is more to do with the physical infrastructure and the design constraints at Dublin Airport".
"The cap was brought in when the new terminal was designed and put into operation," he said, adding that improvements such as automated check-in and new security systems mean passengers have "a pretty smooth journey".
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Emerald Airlines operates Aer Lingus regional flights and Mr McCarthy said the airline "will probably break even this year, not make massive profits" and that it working to reduce its impact on the environment.
"Every gallon of fuel we burn, we buy a carbon offset for every single gallon. So for our €22m fuel bill this year, we'll probably spend about 44.5m in carbon emissions trading offsets," he said.
"We're fully carbon neutral in that respect. We are constantly trying to improve on that and reduce our impact," he added.
