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A minister has launched an attack on the aviation industry's high carbon emissions and branded low-cost airline Ryanair as "the irresponsible face of capitalism".

In an interview with the Guardian, environment minister Ian Pearson said that government plans to cut carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2050 are being put under threat by low-cost airlines.

Yesterday, Ryanair announced that its passenger numbers grew by 19 per cent in December 2006, with more than three million travellers taking to the skies. Just over 40.5 million people flew with Ryanair throughout 2006.

The airline's chief executive, Michael O'Leary, says his company will boycott an EU scheme that would see flights flying in, out and within the EU charged an additional levy as part of a carbon trading scheme.

"When it comes to climate change, Ryanair are not just the unacceptable face of capitalism, they are the irresponsible face of capitalism. [Mr] O'Leary just seems to take pride in refusing to recognise that climate change is a genuine problem," Mr Pearson said of Ryanair.

His criticism of the airline industry did not stop with Ryanair. Mr Pearson referred to US aviation companies as "disgraceful" for seeking transatlantic flights to be exempted for the carbon trading scheme and said that "even British Airways are only just playing ball".

"Like every other industry, the airline industry has got to take its share of responsibility for combating climate change and the EU's proposal is the vehicle by which they can do just that," he said.

Ryanair has hit back to the minister's claims and suggested he look towards the power industry as the "biggest contributor to climate change". Mr O'Leary has previously said that taxation on the aviation industry will not reduce emissions.

A Ryanair spokesperson said: "Mr Pearson is sadly misinformed. Ryanair has spent more than $10 billion (£5 billion) on a fleet of fuel-efficient engines which have reduced fuel burn by 45 per cent and cut CO2 emissions by 50 per cent per passenger, making Ryanair Europe's greenest airline."