Ryanair Provides Detailed Breakdown Of Costs in Lawsuit Against Disruptive Passenger Who Forced Flight Diversion
- The airline wants the unruly passenger to stump up €15,350 to cover the cost of hotel accommodation for 160 passengers, landing fees, and lost inflight Duty Free sales.
Ryanair has provided a detailed breakdown of the costs it wants to claw back from an unruly passenger who it claims forced the pilots of a Dublin to Lanzarote flight last April to divert to Portugal because his behavior was so bad.
The low-cost airline said on Monday that it had decided to pursue legal action against the man in an Irish civil court because criminal prosecutors in Portugal chose not to press charges and instead recommended that the case be transferred to Ireland.
Last week, Ryanair first revealed that it was suing the passenger for more than €15,000, but the carrier has now published a detailed breakdown of how it has come to this figure.
Following the April 9, 2024, incident, the plane had to remain in Portugal overnight because of pilot and cabin crew working hours restrictions. As a result, Ryanair shelled out €7,000 for hotel accommodation for all 160 passengers and six crew members.
The airline also had to pay €1,800 for a replacement crew, €2,500 in airport landing and handling fees, €800 in excess fuel payments and €2,500 in legal costs.
In addition, Ryanair is also suing the unruly passenger for €750 in lost inflight sales, like food, drink and Duty Free. The total bill comes to €15,350.
“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 six crew members on board,” a spokesperson for the airline explained on Monday.
“European governments repeatedly fail to take action when disruptive passengers threaten aircraft safety and force them to divert,” the spokesperson complained. “It is time that EU authorities take action to limit the sale of alcohol at airports.”
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has long called for airports to impose a two-drink limit on passengers to prevent drunken, unruly behavior at 34,000 feet, and the airline is once again calling for restrictions to be brought in.
Refuting allegations that the airline simply wants to drive more onboard booze sales, the airline insisted that it “already restricts and limits the sale of alcohol on board our aircraft, particularly in disruptive passenger cases.”
O’Leary has previously pinned the blame for a dramatic increase in unruly passenger incidents on illegal drugs, especially on trouble-prone flights from Ireland and the UK to party destinations like Ibiza and the Greek islands.
Ryanair is currently dealing with at least one serious unruly passenger incident per week.
