Ryanair has reiterated its call for airports to impose alcohol limits on passengers as a way of clamping down on unruly passenger behaviour onboard flights.
The renewed call came as Ryanair published full details of its legal claim against an unruly passenger, which was initially announced last week.
Ryanair confirmed, last week, that it has filed legal proceedings – seeking €15,000 in damages – against a passenger who disrupted one of its Dublin-Lanzarote flights last April.
Ryanair said the damages being sought should cover the cost and fees it incurred as a result of having to divert due to this case of passenger misbehaviour.
The airline said that because of this disruptive passenger’s behaviour, the aircraft was forced to divert to Porto, where it landed and the passenger was offloaded and arrested.
Due to crew hours restrictions the aircraft, crew and over 160 passengers were forced to overnight in Porto Airport, with the cost of accommodation and meals being funded entirely by Ryanair. The airline also had to provide an additional aircraft and crew to operate the delayed return flight from Lanzarote to Dublin, which took place on 10th April 2024.
Ryanair’s Breakdown of Damages Costs:
| Excess Fuel | € 800 |
| Passenger and Crew Overnight Accom. | € 7,000 |
| Porto Airport Landing/Handling Fees | € 2,500 |
| Loss of Inflight Sales | € 750 |
| Replacement Crew Costs | € 1,800 |
| Portuguese Legal Fees (to date) | € 2,500 |
| Total | €15,350 |
A Ryanair spokesperson said: “None of these costs would have been incurred if this disruptive passenger had not forced a diversion to Porto in order to protect the safety of the aircraft, 160 passengers and 6 crew members on board. European Govts repeatedly fail to take action when disruptive passengers threaten aircraft safety and force them to divert. In this case, the Portuguese Prosecution ruled that because the aircraft and the passenger are Irish, this case should be transferred to Ireland. Ryanair is therefore taking a civil proceeding against this passenger in the Irish Courts to recover these costs, which were incurred wholly and exclusively as a result of the disruptive passenger’s behaviour, which caused not just a diversion, but an overnight in Porto of over 160 passengers and 6 crew member and the operating aircraft.
“It is time that EU authorities take action to limit the sale of alcohol at airports. Airlines, like Ryanair, already restrict and limit the sale of alcohol on board our aircraft, particularly in disruptive passenger cases.
“However, during flight delays, passengers are consuming excess alcohol at airports without any limit on purchase or consumption. We fail to understand why passengers at airports are not limited to two alcoholic drinks (using their boarding pass in exactly the same way they limit duty free sales), as this would result in safer and better passenger behaviour on board aircraft, and a safer travel experience for passengers and crews all over Europe.”
Last August, Ryanair Group CEO Michael O’Leary said – in an interview with the Daily Telegraph – airports should impose a two drink per person limit in their terminals, ahead of flight time, in a bid to reduce antisocial behaviour onboard planes.
At the time, Mr O’Leary said disruptive behaviour, by drunk passengers, had become a weekly occurrence on flights, with it being difficult for airlines to identify passengers who have had too much to drink before boarding a plane.
“As long as they can stand up and shuffle they will get through. Then, when the plane takes off we see the misbehaviour,” Mr O’Leary said in August.
“We don’t want to begrudge people having a drink. But we don’t allow people to drink-drive, yet we keep putting them up in aircraft at 33,000 feet.”
