On April 9, 2024, in Dublin, 160 people were delighted to be able to spend a few days under the sun of the Canary Islands, in Lanzarote. Unfortunately for them, a drunk passenger disrupted the Ryanair flight and the start of their vacation. Faced with the chaos he caused, the pilot had to divert his plane to Porto (Por).
Exasperated by this case, which is not isolated, the Irish low-cost airline is showing its fangs. As “Le Figaro” explains, she wants to “strike hard”, just to discourage “too happy” travelers and is demanding 15,000 euros in damages from the person responsible for the scandal. A first in the field of civil aviation.
This represents “unnecessary disruption and the loss of an entire day of vacation for the 160 passengers,” comments Ryanair. But why such a sum? According to current legislation in Europe, for intra-EU flights, passengers are entitled to compensation in the event of flight cancellation or delay of at least three hours, plus, if necessary, a night at the hotel or a meal. In the case of the flight diverted to Porto and arriving at 15,000 euros, explains BFMTV, Ryanair made a calculation including “7,000 euros for accommodation of the crew and passengers, 2,500 for landing and handling costs , as much for legal costs”, 1800 to ensure the presence of another crew for the flight which was to bring holidaymakers from Lanzarote to Dublin, 800 for fuel additional and 750 for… the loss of on-board sales.
The company is calling on European authorities to limit the sale of alcohol in airports and believes that passengers should not be entitled to “more than two alcoholic drinks”. “If your flight is delayed by two or three hours, you can’t drink five, six, eight, ten pints of beer. Go have a coffee or a cup of tea. This is not an outing for alcoholics,” complains Michael O’Leary, the boss of Ryanair.
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The law can be even stricter
According to British law, explains the site travelsupermarket.com, a passenger found guilty of drunkenness on a plane could be sentenced “to a prison sentence of two years and a fine of 5,000 pounds” (5,580 francs). If passenger safety is compromised, the penalty “can be up to five years in prison” and, if the plane is forced to divert, the “disruptor could be held responsible for the airline’s costs”, which can reach 80,000 pounds (89,000 francs).
