Ryanair, in a statement on Monday, insisted that, “it is time that EU authorities take action to limit the sale of alcohol at airports to two alcoholic drinks. Airlines, like Ryanair, already restrict and limit the sale of alcohol on board our aircraft, particularly in disruptive passenger cases.”

However, the airline pointed out that “during flight delays, passengers are consuming excess alcohol at airports without any limit on purchase or consumption.”

They added that, “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.”

A spokesperson for the airline highlighted a case in point, when in April last year, “because of a disruptive passenger’s behaviour, an aircraft en route from Dublin to Lanzarote 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, meals, etc 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,” the 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 Governments repeatedly fail to take action when disruptive passengers threaten aircraft safety and force them to divert,” the spokesperson said.

The airline went on to say that “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, totalling €15,350, 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.”

File photo: Ryanair

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