Ryanair Details €15,000 Suit Against Drunken Passenger; Wants Alcohol Sales Limited At Airports

Ryanair is tired of drunk and unruly passengers, and they’re aren’t accepting their rowdy behavior anymore.

In a press release, the Irish-based carrier said it plans take legal actions against any individuals causing major disruptions on its flights. They announced that a civil lawsuit was filed against a disruptive passenger that forced flight FR7124 from Dublin (DUB) to Lanzarote (ACE) to divert to Porto (OPO) on April 9, 2024.

The flight spent the night in Portugal, and continued on to the Canary islands the next day. In the lawsuit, they are seeking to recover over €15,000 spent to cover the cost of the diversion.

A Ryanair spokesperson said:

“It is unacceptable that passengers – many of whom are heading away with family or friends to enjoy a relaxing Summer holiday – are suffering unnecessary disruption and reduced holiday time as a result of one unruly passenger’s behaviour. Yet this was regrettably the case for passengers on this flight from Dublin to Lanzarote last April, which was forced to divert to Porto as a result of an individual passenger’s disruptive behaviour, causing €15,000 in overnight accommodation, passenger expenses, and landing costs. We have now filed civil proceedings to recover these costs from this passenger.”

Normally airlines might add disruptive passengers to their no-fly list, and pass the torch to local authorities to conduct further follow-ups, but in this lawsuit, Ryanair wants to send a message by penalizing those causing trouble on its flights.

In a breakdown, Ryanair details how they came up with their figure as follows:

  • Excess Fuel: €800
  • Passenger and Crew Overnight Accommodations: €7,000
  • Porto Airport Landing/Handling Fees: €2,500
  • Loss of Inflight Sales: €750
  • Replacement Crew Costs: €1,800
  • Portuguese Legal Fees (to date): €2,500

Ryanair has also lashed out against other European governments for their inaction regarding matters like this. The carrier originally filed the case in Portugal, but was told that the matter needed to be transferred to the Irish court system because it involved an Irish airline and passenger.

“European [Governments] repeatedly fail to take action when disruptive passengers threaten aircraft safety and force them to divert. In this case, the Portuguese Prosecution ruled that because the aircraft and the passenger are Irish, this case should be transferred to Ireland.”

Credit: Juanedc/Flickr | CC BY 2.0 Generic

As you can see from the breakdown, they aren’t skipping on any inconvenience as they have included the legal fees from their failed Portuguese suit.

The reality is even if they win the lawsuit, most of those winnings may go back to legal fees, and €15,350 is a drop in the bucket when compared to the €1.79 billion in profits made it its last half year. However, they hope to send a strong message to others as the passenger will be the one feeling the shock of the lawsuit at the end of the day.

Ryanair wants airports to significantly cut down on alcohol sales

Ryanair also wants respective authorities airport and government authorities to reduce the sale of alcohol at airports, citing that bars and restaurants don’t put limits on passengers boozing up before boarding flights.

“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.”

Featured image: Steve Knight/Flickr | CC BY 2.0 Generic

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