Ryanair pushes strict alcohol limit for passengers at airports
RYANAIR has reiterated calls for airports to limit how much alcohol passengers can drink.
The airline announced earlier this month that it would be taking a disruptive passenger to court, the first case of its kind.
Having first called for a drink limit last year, they have since backed the calls again.
A Ryanair spokesperson said: “It is time that EU authorities take action to limit the sale of alcohol at airports.
“Airlines, like Ryanair, already restrict and limit the sale of alcohol on board our aircraft, particularly in disruptive passenger cases.
“However, during flight delays, passengers are consuming excess alcohol at airports without any limit on purchase or consumption.
“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), as this would result in safer and better passenger behaviour on board aircraft, and a safer travel experience for passengers and crews all over Europe.”
The ongoing court case is following a flight diversion back in April 2024.
The disruptive passenger – who is being taken to court for £12,000 – forced a flight from Dublin to Lanzarote to land in Porto.
More than 160 passengers weer forced to spend the night in Porto, with the entire cost of hotel and meals covered by Ryanair, as well as an additional flight.
Ryanair said: “None of these costs would have been incurred if this disruptive passenger had not forced a diversion to Porto in order to protect the safety of the aircraft, 160 passengers and 6 crew members on board.
“In this case, the Portuguese Prosecution ruled that because the aircraft and the passenger are Irish, this case should be transferred to Ireland.
“Ryanair is therefore taking a civil proceeding against this passenger in the Irish Courts to recover these costs, which were incurred wholly and exclusively as a result of the disruptive passenger’s behaviour, which caused not just a diversion, but an overnight in Porto of over 160 passengers and 6 crew member and the operating aircraft.”
A former airline boss has called for planes to ban alcoholic drinks altogether.
Padraig O’Ceidigh. former boss of Aer Lingus Regional, said: “I don’t think that alcohol should be sold on board an airplane, quite frankly.
“Particularly on reasonably short-haul flights, but I don’t think it should be sold on airplanes in any event.
The Sun’s resident flight attendant previously explained that crew tend can easily stop serving drinks if they think a passenger is too drunk.
They said: “As a team, we keep an eye on the consumption of each passenger, and will let each other know if someone is drinking a little too greedily.
“we can all collectively make a decision of whether or not we need to cut their supply and refuse them service.”
Explaining how to tell, they added that if they “wouldn’t be able to look after themselves in an emergency” then they had had too much to drink.
NHS guidelines on drinking alcohol
According to the NHS, regularly drinking more than 14 units of alcohol a week risks damaging your health.
To keep health risks from alcohol to a low level if you drink most weeks:
- men and women are advised not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis
- spread your drinking over 3 or more days if you regularly drink as much as 14 units a week
- if you want to cut down, try to have several drink-free days each week
If you’re pregnant or think you could become pregnant, the safest approach is not to drink alcohol at all to keep risks to your baby to a minimum.
You read more on the NHS website.
They also said that the summer was the worst month for drunken passengers.
Here’s why drinking alcohol on a flight could even be deadly.