Irish airline Ryanair is reiterating its call to limit passengers to two alcoholic drinks in an airport before boarding an aircraft.
Ryanair highlighted the issue in a January 13 statement where it provided details of its €15,000 claim in civil proceedings against a "disruptive" passenger on a Dublin - Lanzarote flight on April 9, 2024.
Ryanair said in its statement on Monday that because of the passenger's "disruptive" behavior, the aircraft was forced to divert to Porto in Portugal.
The "disruptive" passenger was offloaded and arrested in Porto, Ryanair said on Monday, but due to crew hours restrictions, the aircraft, crew, and over 160 passengers were forced to stay overnight in Porto Airport, with the cost funded entirely by the airline.
Ryanair said it also had to provide an additional aircraft and crew to operate the delayed return flight from Lanzarote to Dublin the following day, April 10.
The Irish airline then provided a breakdown of the costs to show how it arrived at its €15,350 claim:
- Excess fuel: €800
- Passenger and crew overnight accommodation: €7,000
- Porto Airport Landing / Handling fees: €2,500
- Loss of Inflihgt Sales: €750
- Replacement crew costs: €1,800
- Portuguese legal fees (to date): €2,500
A Ryanair spokesperson said on Monday that the airline would not have incurred the costs if not for the "disruptive passenger" who "forced" the diversion.
The spokesperson continued: "European governments repeatedly fail to take action when disruptive passengers threaten aircraft safety and force them to divert."
The spokesperson added that the Portuguese Prosecution ruled that because the aircraft and passenger are Irish, the matter should be transferred to Ireland, where Ryanair ultimately launched its civil proceedings last week.
The Ryanair spokesperson continued: "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 2 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.”
The statement comes a few months after Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary told the Daily Telegraph: “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 33,000ft.
“In the old days, people who drank too much would eventually fall over or fall asleep. But now those passengers are also on tablets and powder.
“It’s the mix. You get much more aggressive behaviour that becomes very difficult to manage.”
On Monday, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency told the Associated Press that while it could not provide specifics, “both the number and severity of incidents” involving 'unruly' passengers have increased in Europe since 2020.
Comments