Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has called for airports to stop serving alcohol before early morning flights, warning passenger disruption is forcing the airline to divert nearly one flight every day
Airports shoud be banned from serving alcohol to passengers ahead of early morning flights, according to Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary. He claimed the restriction would cut down on the number of travellers causing disruption aboard aircraft.
Mr O’Leary revealed that Ryanair was being compelled to reroute an average of almost one flight daily due to poor conduct on board, rising from one per week a decade ago.
Speaking to The Times, Mr O’Leary said: “It’s becoming a real challenge for all airlines. I fail to understand why anybody in airport bars is serving people at five or six o’clock in the morning. Who needs to be drinking beer at that time?”
Airport bars beyond security in the UK aren’t obliged to adhere to licensing hour restrictions that govern other establishments selling alcohol.
Mr O’Leary said: “There should be no alcohol served at airports outside (those) licensing hours.”
He revealed that Ryanair seldom provided more than two drinks to a passenger, and urged for a two-drink cap to be implemented at airports.
He added: “We are reasonably responsible, but the ones who are not responsible, the ones who are profiteering off it, are the airports who have these bars open at five or six o’clock in the morning and during delays are quite happy to send these people as much alcohol as they want because they know they’re going to export the problem to the airlines.”
Being intoxicated on an aircraft constitutes a criminal offence and can result in a penalty of up to £5,000 and two years’ imprisonment. In January of the previous year, Ryanair declared it had initiated legal proceedings to recoup losses from unruly passengers who caused a flight to be diverted.
The airline stated it had lodged a lawsuit against a passenger in Ireland, seeking 15,000 euros (£12,500) in damages connected to a flight from Dublin to Lanzarote.
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