‘Inexcusable Behavior’ Led To Diversion, Overnight Stays

Ireland-based Ryanair has filed a legal claim for £12,500 (about $15,450) against a passenger who the airline alleges disrupted a flight to the Canary Islands that had to divert to Portugal and the airline was forced to put up the 160 passenger overnight.

The ultra low-cost carrier filed the proceedings in Ireland when the flight from Dublin to Lanzarote had to divert and made an emergency landing in Porto after the incident on April 9, 2024, causing passengers to stay overnight that was paid for by Ryanair. Passengers also lost a day of their holiday due to the delay.

Ryanair said the civil claim, the first of its kind, seeks to recover the costs of landing fees, hotel accommodation and passenger expenses.

The airline did not release any details about the nature of the disruption, but Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has previously commented on passenger behavior and warned that violence fueled by pre-flight drinking was getting out of control.

He said, “We don’t want to begrudge people having a drink. But we don’t allow people to drink-drive, yet we keep putting them up in aircraft at 33,000 feet.”

Ryanair has adopted a zero-tolerance approach to unruly customers as disruptions seem to be more common than ever. The penalty in this case is far above those typically meted out by the courts in criminal prosecutions involving rowdy or unruly passengers.

FMI:  www.ryanair.com/