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Two of the most colourful characters in the budget airline industry are locked in a fierce new battle over who will take the most coveted prize - the title of top UK airline.

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary is predicting that his company could steal the top spot from British Airways within months.

Ryanair carries more people across Europe than any other airline and Mr O'Leary has made a deal with Boeing to buy an extra 200 planes.

But standing in the way of victory is easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, who began a war of words by criticising his rival's growth strategy plans, saying they "will end in tears for his shareholders".

The extra aircraft were due to be delivered in 2013 but Mr O'Leary is now considering cancelling these orders and returning the cash to shareholders instead.

He has also mentioned cancelling orders for 110 other planes some of which are due for delivery next year.

Sir Stelios said: "My suggestion now, as he will not find enough passengers to fill his 100 additional aircraft, is to buy a piece of the Mojave Desert in California and start an aviation museum for his old aircraft."

He added: "It could be another ancillary revenue stream alongside his charging for the loo."

A spokesperson for the Irish airline hit back saying: "Stelios should stick to making pizzas and running high fare airlines, which he might know something about."

Ryanair carried 1.4 million passengers during September compared with BA's 1.6 million.

Now Mr O'Leary has set his sights on beating BA's figures, especially since BA will be making cuts to its flights this winter, and may also be hit by cabin crew strikes.

The picture looks promising for the low-cost airline - in the six months to September total passenger numbers increased by 15% to 36.4 million.

Profits also increased by 80% for the first half of the year, largely due to a fall in fuel costs, but the carrier predicts it could make a loss in the next six months if it is forced to cut fares to keep its planes full.

easyJet meanwhile, appears to be playing a more cautious game by limiting growth to 7.5% a year.

Some critics claim Ryanair's growth is unsustainable, meaning Sir Stelios' prediction of tears for his rival's shareholders could come true.