Will there be more Ryanair flight cancellations this summer? Which airports could be affected - what has Michael O’Leary said

Ryanair could start cancelling flights within four weeks as a major UK airport has been told it is breaching current rules.

Michael O’Leary, the Ryanair boss, said early morning flights could be affected as the airline would have to cancel slots at arrival airports if an “idiotic” enforcement of an “outdated” 2007 planning condition is allowed to stay in place.

Fingal County Council in Ireland is taking enforcement action to force Dublin Airport to comply with planning rules which cap the number of night flights at 65.

The cap was among the planning conditions that were imposed when the airport was allowed to build a new "North Runway" in 2007, which opened in August last year at a cost of £276m.

The airport’s operator, Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), has long opposed the night flights limit. Last week the DAA’s chief executive Kenny Jacobs said enforcing the "overly onerous" rules would lead to disruption in peak holiday season.

He said it would mean there would now be fewer flights between 11pm and 7am than was the case before the second runway opened which “makes no sense” and the “travelling public deserves better."

Under the enforcement action, Dublin Airport was given six weeks to conform to the limit of 65 flights or fewer between the hours of 11pm and 7am.

O’Leary said that Ryanair had 40 aircraft based at Dublin, and 26 of those took off at slots between 6am and 7am, questioning “what am I supposed to do with these idle aircraft?”

However, campaigners living under the flight path have complained that their sleep is being severely disrupted by the number of night time flights. Sabrina Joyce Kemper from the Fingal Organised Residents United Movement (Forum) told BBC News Northern Ireland that residents are simply asking for the existing rules to be obeyed.

DAA has applied for an amendment to planning permission for the north runway to extend its operation from 6am to midnight. It has also proposed that a noise monitoring framework should be put in place rather than a limit on aircraft movements.

Fingal County Council has granted both amendments but these are now before the planning body, An Bord Pleanala.

Ryanair has called on Transport Minister Eamon Ryan to either intervene to "protect customers and flights at Ireland’s national airport" or resign over the matter.

The airline said: "Fingal County Council and a tiny number of neighbours cannot be allowed to damage or restrict air travel or connectivity to/from Ireland.”

A spokeswoman for the Irish Department of Transport told BBC News Northern Ireland that this is a “planning matter” so “it is not appropriate for the minister to intervene."

She explained that statutory responsibility for operating Dublin Airport fell to the DAA but “the department will liaise closely with DAA and the Irish Aviation Authority in relation to the proposed response to the enforcement action”.