Irish no-frills airline Ryanair said Thursday it will fine “disruptive passengers whose unruly behaviour” results in their removal from aircraft €500 ($580), booze-fuelled incidents which most often involve Brits on flights to and from Spain.
Europe’s biggest airline by passenger numbers has previously hit out at “unruly” behaviour caused by travellers consuming excessive amounts of alcohol while waiting to board delayed flights.
“Ryanair is committed to tackling unruly passenger behaviour for the benefit of its passengers and crew, and will continue to pursue disruptive passengers for civil damages, but at a minimum, they will now be issued with a 500-euro fine,” Ryanair said in a statement Thursday.
A spokesperson added that the penalty “will be issued to any passengers offloaded from aircraft as a result of their misconduct”.
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Ryanair in January said that it had incurred costs of €15,350 as a result of a “disruptive passenger” on board a flight from Dublin to Lanzarote, in Spain’s Canary Islands, last year.
This was because the plane had to divert to the Portuguese city of Porto, where the passenger was arrested, and the more than 160 other travellers on board were provided with overnight accommodation and meals.
But there are countless other incidents involving drunk passengers, often British, such as the emergency landing of a Ryanair flight from Manchester to Ibiza last September, or a woman dragged off a Ryanair plane from Tenerife to Prestwick which had to land in Portugal this May.
And it’s not just Ryanair that’s been affected by this trend. Drunk and disorderly holidaymakers on board other airlines have been arrested by police before take-off and after landing, forced pilots to turn the aircraft around mid-air, hit airport security guards, harassed air stewards and taken part in brawls with other passengers.
Ryanair said it faced other costs, including the need for additional fuel and crew. The airline filed civil legal proceedings against the passenger in Ireland to recover its outlay.
At the same time, it called on the European Union to limit the sale of alcohol at airports.
Ryanair transported more than 200 million passengers in its last financial year to the end of March.
It forecasts that the number will rise to 300 million by 2034.
With additional reporting from Alex Dunham, The Local Spain editor.
