Ryanair tells passenger who caused diversion to pay £5,800 for everyone’s hotels
Ryanair wants a “disruptive” flyer who caused a flight diversion to pay €7,000 (£5,886) for its crew and passengers’ replacement accommodation, amid a developing spat over alcohol consumption at European airports.
The low-cost giant is suing the customer after being forced to divert a Dublin-Lanzarote flight to Porto in April last year. The individual was arrested upon landing.
The lawsuit aims to deter future incidents of a similar nature. “As a direct result of this disruptive passengers behaviour, over 160 passengers and six crew were forced to divert to, and overnight in Porto Airport, and then flew onwards to Lanzarote on the following day,” the airline said in a statement on Monday.
Alongside the accommodation costs, Ryanair also wants the passenger to cover more than €7,000 for the additional landing/handling charges, replacement crew and excess fuel costs, and Portuguese legal fees.
“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,” a spokesperson said.
It added European governments had “repeatedly failed” to take action when disruptive passengers “threaten aircraft safety and force them to divert.”
The lawsuit comes amid a developing spat over alcohol limits at European airports. Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary and Wetherspoons’ Tim Martin, two heavyweights of the UK business scene, clashed in August after the former called for a two-drink limit.
Martin claimed at the time there had been “no complaints about our pubs from the airport authorities or airlines.”
However, Ryanair on Monday doubled down, claiming European Union authorities should take action to limit the sale of alcohol at airports across the continent.
“Airlines, like Ryanair, already restrict and limit the sale of alcohol on board our aircraft, particularly in disruptive passenger cases,” the spokesperson said.
“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 two 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.”