On Monday, Ryanair did what it does best and sparked an impassioned industry debate. However, it isn’t Boeing, United’s Scott Kirby, or “OTA pirates” in the airline’s sights. It’s the pre-flight pint-swiller.
In an unusual move, the low-cost carrier published the costs it incurred as a “direct result of a disruptive passenger on board its flight from Dublin to Lanzarote.”
According to Ryanair, the incident in April last year forced its pilots to make an unplanned diversion to Porto. Upon landing in the Portuguese city, the passenger was offloaded and arrested – but the story doesn’t end there.
Duty hours for crew working onboard commercial aircraft are strictly controlled. The unscheduled delay meant airline staff would exceed their limit if the plane continued to Lanzarote. As a result, the six crew and more than 160 passengers “were forced to overnight in Porto Airport,” with Ryanair incurring the cost of accommodation and meals. The airline says it also had to pay for an additional aircraft and crew to operate the delayed return flight from Lanzarote to Dublin, which departed the next day.
The budget carrier put the cost of the incident at €15,000 ($15,460) and renewed its calls for a limit on the number of alcoholic drinks served at the airport.
A Ryanair spokesperson said: “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. This would result in safer and better passenger behavior on board aircraft and a safer travel experience for passengers and crews all over Europe.”
The airline highlighted delayed flights as a particular trouble-spot, when “passengers are consuming excess alcohol at airports without any limit on purchase or consumption.”
In its statement, Ryanair called on EU authorities to take action to limit the sales of alcohol at airports – but how realistic are these proposals, and do they have broader industry support? Skift contacted a range of stakeholders from across Europe to assess their response. As you might expect, opinions were divided.
Tackling the Root Cause
When heavily intoxicated passengers board a flight, it is usually the cabin crew and pilots that are on the front line. Decisions to divert or return to the departure point have to be made in real-time weighing up safety and operational considerations.
The European Cockpit Association represents more than 40,000 pilots from 33 European states. It says even Ryanair’s proposed policy doesn’t go far enough.
“The two-drink limit is a band-aid. The real fix is stronger enforcement and better laws. While limiting alcohol consumption onboard can mitigate some issues, it doesn’t tackle the root cause: the lack of robust regulatory and enforcement mechanisms on the ground,” a spokesperson told Skift.
The organization also raised concerns about the increased use of digital self-boarding gates at airports. These cut out the regular human interaction between a passenger and airline agent immediately prior to boarding – a valuable opportunity to assess and engage with potentially disruptive customers.
One area that Ryanair and the ECA do appear to agree on is the need for better enforcement of the law in the event of a diversion.
“The existing legal framework for addressing unruly passengers, rooted in the Tokyo Convention on Offences Committed on Aircraft (1963), has proven ineffective,” said the ECA spokesperson. “It grants jurisdiction solely to the state of the aircraft’s registration, creating enforcement gaps. Upon landing, the pilots hand over unruly passengers to local authorities with no jurisdiction, resulting in their release. These passengers frequently continue their journey without sanctions, free to re-offend.”
In the incident shared by Ryanair this week, the flight from Dublin to the Spanish island of Lanzarote was diverted to Portugal. The airline said this resulted in it being caught in the middle of different judicial systems.
“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,” said the Ryanair statement.
The airline confirmed it has started civil proceedings against the passenger in the Irish Courts to recover costs.
What About the Airports?
Despite the passenger in Ryanair’s example departing from Dublin, the airport claims restrictions are not needed. Graeme McQueen, head of media relations at airport operator, daa, said: “We’ve great passengers at Dublin and Cork airports and wouldn’t see the need for any such restrictions. The average alcohol consumption per passenger visiting one of our bars in our airports is the equivalent to less than half a pint of beer, so it’s not an issue for us.”
This was a view echoed by a representative for Munich Airport, who reported only “very isolated cases of disruptive passengers” at the German hub.
Elsewhere, Avinor operates 43 state-owned airports in Norway, including the region’s busiest gateway in Oslo. A spokesperson told Skift that it supports a balanced approach to alcohol management, but stopped short of endorsing the two-drink limit.
Avinor described the practical implementation of Ryanair’s proposed policy as “logistically complex.” Instead, it said its focus is on “preventing excessive drinking and identifying potentially disruptive passengers before they board aircraft,” adding that its staff already collaborate closely with airlines and ground personnel.
Meanwhile, a representative from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport – one of the largest in Europe – acknowledged the prevention of onboard incidents is “a joint responsibility of airlines, food & beverage establishments, and Schiphol.”
They highlighted continuous staff training and the use of special patrols and camera surveillance as measures used to reduce the likelihood of disruptive passengers.
Two-Drink Restrictions “Ineffective”
To gauge a broader airport perspective, Skift also heard from trade body ACI Europe. It represents more than 500 airports in 55 countries, facilitating around 90% of commercial air traffic in Europe.
ACI Europe claims that airlines already have “tools at their disposal” to manage unruly passengers by exercising their right to refuse boarding or onboard service.
“A restriction such as the one proposed by Ryanair would be ineffective in curbing potential disruptive behavior if passengers were still to be offered unrestricted access to alcohol inflight,” the organization said.
“A more effective approach would involve airlines providing more extensive training for staff managing check-in and boarding processes as well as crews to recognize signs of potentially disruptive passengers and refuse boarding or onboard sales of alcohol. Additionally, implementing a system of yellow and red cards for passengers with a history of causing trouble could help address this issue more structurally.”
An ‘Open Invitation’ to Ryanair
A further viewpoint comes from Nigel Keal, chair of the UK Travel Retail Forum – a trade body that includes duty-free retailers, airside bars, and even alcohol producers such as Bacardi among its members.
“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,” Keal told Skift.
He said airside food and beverage outlets, as well as travel retail operators, already follow a “robust” industry code of conduct. Keal noted the One Too Many campaign as an example of the industry being proactive, and invited Ryanair to take part.
“The campaign is present in nearly every airport in the UK and we reiterate our open invitation to Ryanair and other airlines to join this collaborative effort, to ensure a safer and more enjoyable travel experience for all,” said the UKTRF chair.
What do European Officials Say?
In its statement on Monday, Ryanair specifically called on EU authorities to intervene and “take action to limit the sale of alcohol at airports.”
Skift asked the European Commission – the EU’s legislative arm – if it is actively considering changes to existing rules and regulations.
In response, a spokesperson said: “The Commission considers that the current rules outlined in Commission Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 are sufficient to mitigate the safety risks associated with passengers consuming alcohol on flights. These rules give the aircraft commander and operator the authority to decide whether to allow passengers under the influence of alcohol or psychoactive substances to board the aircraft.”
The Commission spokesperson added that airlines are obligated to take all reasonable measures to prevent passengers under the influence of psychoactive substances from boarding or remaining on the aircraft when it is likely to pose a safety risk.
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