Europe’s largest low-cost airline, Ryanair, is showing that it’s serious about tackling an upsurge in unruly behavior aboard its planes, with the carrier now paying for a private criminal prosecution of a passenger who had to be dragged off one of its aircraft earlier this year.
On Wednesday, the Dublin-based carrier said that the criminal proceedings it was bringing against the unruly passenger could see the suspect facing as long as 12 months in a Spanish jail, as well as a fine equivalent to 18 months of their salary.
The case stems from an incident aboard a Ryanair plane on January 16, 2024, which as preparing to depart Lanzarote Airport in the Canary Islands for a domestic flight to the Spanish city of Santiago in the north of the mainland.
According to Ryanair, the suspect attempted to sit in a seat that was assigned to him and then became “verbally abusive” to cabin crew when they asked him to present his boarding pass in an attempt to resolve the seating issue.
Claiming to be a United Nations diplomat and to have diplomatic immunity, the man was eventually removed from the plane by the Guardia Civil, although the incident delayed the departure of the flight with 137 passengers onboard.
“It is unacceptable that passengers, many of whom are on a family holiday, are suffering unnecessary delay as a result of one unruly passenger’s behavior,” slammed a Ryanair spokesperson.
“We have initiated a private criminal prosecution against this passenger, in which the court may impose a sentence of 3-12 months’ imprisonment or a fine of 6-18 months’ salary. These are just some of the potential consequences of Ryanair’s zero-tolerance policy for passengers who disrupt flights,” the spokesperson added.
Ryanair hopes the criminal prosecution it is bringing at its own expense “deter further disruptive behavior on Ryanair flights.”
Earlier this year, the airline also announced that it was bringing a civil case in a Irish court against another unruly passenger whose behavior became so disruptive during a flight from Dublin to Lanzarote last April that the pilots were forced to make a diversion to Portugal to have the man removed by police.
In that case, the local authorities decided not to pursue criminal proceedings despite Rynair’s protests, so the airline decided to sue the passenger in an attempt to reclaim the costs associated with the diversion.
The man faces being made to pay €15,000 if Ryanair prevails in court, which will cover the €7,000 cost of providing hotel accommodation to all the disrupted passengers who had to stay overnight in Portugal, as well as airport landing and handling fees, the cost of a replacement crew, refueling costs, and legal fees.
Ryanair is also attempting to claim back €750 in lost inflight sales, like food, drink and, Duty Free.
In January, Ryanair said it was being forced to send in lawyers to pursue private legal proceedings because “European governments repeatedly fail to take action when disruptive passengers threaten aircraft safety and force them to divert.”
Matt’s take
Ryanair is making no secret of the fact that it is sick and tired of its flights being disrupted by unruly passengers, especially on certain routes that are well-known for bad behavior, especially flights from Ireland and the UK to party destinations like Ibiza and the Greek islands.
Chief executive Michael O’Leary has called for airports to impose a two-drink limit on passengers ahead of them boarding their flights in an attempt to cut down on inebriated customers disrupting flights.
Unfortunately, O’Leary says cutting down on drunken behavior is only part of the problem as the airline is also facing issues with passengers taking drugs on its flights.
