The airline had been given permission to land two flights at the airport in the Loire Valley, but since last week has been forced to fly passengers to Nantes and bring passengers 50km by bus to Angers.

An Irish Aviation Authority spokeswoman said on Friday that the authority will meet with its French counterparts, as well as Angers airport officials and Aer Arann this Tuesday to discuss the situation and hopefully resolve the issue. She could give no indication as to how long it might take for its concerns to be allayed.

The IAA believes a lack of what is a traditional controlled zone between 600 and 3,000 feet, around Angers airport, means that Aer Arann should wait until the situation is addressed before it recommences flights.

A director of Angers airport, Gilles Darriau, said last week that "technically" there wasn't a problem, as radar equipment at Nantes could track aircraft headed for Angers until they reached the airport. He added that other airlines, including Air France, continue to use Angers. Darriau added that the IAA was effectively penalising an Irish company.

Aer Arann announced last February that it would commence a service to Angers from Cork and Manchester for the summer. It had said that both services would operate three times a week.