Ryanair, Europe's largest low-cost airline, is calling for a limit on alcohol purchases at European airports, advocating for a restriction of two alcoholic drinks per passenger to address disruptive in-flight incidents. The initiative comes in the wake of a recent event where a flight from Dublin to Lanzarote was forced to divert to Porto due to a passenger's unruly behavior.
Ryanair is seeking €15,350 (£13,000) in compensation from the disruptive passenger whose actions caused the flight diversion, according to Fox News. Upon landing in Porto, the passenger was offloaded and arrested.
"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," a Ryanair spokesperson said, according to Business Insider.
According to CNN, the unscheduled delay meant Ryanair's crew would exceed their duty hours if the plane continued to Lanzarote, necessitating an overnight stay for the crew and passengers at Porto Airport. Ryanair funded accommodation and meals for the affected crew members and passengers due to the incident.
According to Münchner Merkur, Ryanair publicly detailed the expenses it incurred as a direct result of the flight diversion, including €7,000 for the overnight stay of passengers and crew, €2,500 for airport fees, and €1,800 for a replacement crew.
In light of this and similar incidents, Ryanair reiterated its call for European authorities to implement a limit of two alcoholic drinks per passenger at airports. "We do not understand why passengers in airports are not limited to two alcoholic beverages per boarding pass, as this would result in safer and better passenger behavior on board flights," a Ryanair representative stated.
"The limit should be enforced using the boarding pass in exactly the same way they restrict the sales of duty-free drinks," the spokesperson added.
"We already restrict and limit the sale of alcohol on our aircraft," the airline noted.
According to CNN, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) noted an increase in incidents aboard aircraft in recent years, with passenger violence recorded at one disruptive incident per 480 flights in 2023, up from one per 568 flights in 2022.
Michael O'Leary, Ryanair's CEO, long advocated for stricter alcohol controls at airports. According to Business Insider, O'Leary emphasized that while airlines restrict alcohol sales on flights, the lack of similar restrictions at airports contributes to the issue of increasing violence on board.
In an interview with The Guardian, O'Leary said: "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." He highlighted the challenges faced by airline staff in identifying inebriated passengers at the gate, especially when boarding in a group.
A spokesperson for the European Cockpit Association, representing over 40,000 pilots from 33 European states, stated, "The existing legal framework for addressing unruly passengers, rooted in the Tokyo Convention on Offences Committed on Aircraft (1963), has proven ineffective," according to Skift.
Airlines claim that the main problem is alcohol consumed in airports, as passengers often appear sober at boarding but become unruly after takeoff. "Passengers consume excessive alcohol at airports without any purchase or consumption limit," Ryanair noted during flight delays, contributing to disruptive behaviors on board, reported CNN.
In Ireland, being drunk on an airplane to the extent that one can endanger oneself or others is illegal and can result in a fine of up to £500 ($600) or, in extreme cases, imprisonment for up to four months or a fine of £700 ($850), according to CNN.
Local airport operators are resisting Ryanair's push to limit alcohol sales, asserting that they already have strict measures against drunken passengers. According to Focus Online, operators of large European airports argue that visibly intoxicated passengers are not served in restaurants.
"Imposing new, blanket restrictions at airports would penalize those people consuming responsibly. Importantly, such a ban would also have no effect on passengers drinking alcohol onboard planes," Nigel Keal, chair of the UK Travel Retail Forum, commented, according to Skift. He noted the One Too Many campaign as an example of the industry being proactive and invited Ryanair to take part.
"The current rules... are sufficient to mitigate the safety risks associated with passengers consuming alcohol on flights," a spokesperson for the European Commission said, as reported by Skift.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.