Ryanair said its decision to take legal action against individual passengers represented a major "clampdown" on misconduct. It has issued proceedings in the Circuit Court here in Ireland against an as-yet-unnamed passenger who was said to have disrupted flight FR7124 from Dublin to Lanzarote on April 9 last year.
A Ryanair spokesperson explained: "This passenger’s inexcusable behavior forced this flight to divert to Porto where it was delayed overnight, causing 160 passengers to face unnecessary disruption as well as losing a full day of their holiday.
"It is completely unacceptable that passengers who work hard to enjoy a trip away with family/friends are robbed of the pleasure due to one passenger’s failure to behave."
Zero tolerance on disruptive passengers 🚫
— Ryanair (@Ryanair) January 8, 2025
Last April, the unruly behaviour of one individual caused a diversion that resulted in 160 people losing a day of their holiday.
We have now filed civil proceedings against the passenger, demonstrating the consequences passengers… pic.twitter.com/4x0qgSOMLv
They said Ryanair was committed to ensuring that all passengers and crew travel in a safe and respectful environment, "without unnecessary disruption caused by a tiny number of unruly passengers."
"Ryanair has a strict zero-tolerance policy towards passenger misconduct and will continue to take decisive action to combat unruly passenger behavior on aircraft for the benefit of the vast majority of passengers who do not disrupt flights," the spokesperson said.
Ryanair said the passenger’s actions had cost the airline €15,000 in overnight accommodation, passenger expenses, and landing costs.
"We have now filed civil proceedings to recover these costs from this passenger," the spokesperson said.
Michael O'Leary, CEO of Ryanair. (RollingNews.ie)
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Zero tolerance
"This demonstrates just one of the many consequences that passengers who disrupt flights will face as part of Ryanair’s zero-tolerance policy."
In a separate incident last January, a flight carrying British holidaymakers from Luton to Lanzarote also had to be diverted to Portugal.
On that occasion, a group of men, who were reported to be drunk, began harassing women passengers.
Video footage on social media suggested a member of the cabin crew was knocked over when they tried to intervene. The captain issued a warning, and the plane was ultimately rerouted to Faro, where it was boarded by Portuguese police. One disruptive passenger was then removed by the police, Ryanair confirmed.
The new legal action comes just months after Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has said he would be ‘happy’ to introduce a two-drink limit on his company’s flights, as long as the same rules are applied to airport bars.
* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.
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