Passengers who disrupt Ryanair flights could now face a hefty fine after the airline announced plans for a ‘major clampdown’ on ‘unruly behaviour’.
Tourists who have to be taken off planes – delaying the journeys of their fellow flyers – will face a £500 fine, the airline has announced.
Europe’s largest carrier, which takes thousands of revellers to resorts and cities across Europe and beyond every year, said it would now come down on hard on those who stop other passengers enjoying a stress-free flight.
A statement released by Michael O’Leary’s airline said: ‘Passengers expect to travel in a comfortable and stress-free environment with an on-time arrival, free from unnecessary disruption caused by a tiny number of unruly passengers.’
A spokesperson for Ryanair added: ‘It is unacceptable that passengers are made to suffer unnecessary disruption because of one unruly passenger’s behaviour’.
Travellers who become aggressive towards staff or display drunken behaviour that compromises the safety of others will be offloaded and then sent a bill.
The carrier said: ‘Ryanair is committed to tackling unruly passenger behaviour for the benefit of its passengers and crew, and will continue to pursue disruptive passengers for civil damages, but at a minimum, they will now be issued with a £500 fine.’
Last month, a British woman was filmed being dragged off a Ryanair flight and thrown to the floor by security staff after she allegedly assaulted passengers and forced the plane to divert to Portugal.
Last month, video footage shared to TikTok showed a woman being led off a grounded Ryanair plane after she allegedly assaulted passengers and forced the plane to divert to Portugal – new fines introduced ahead of the summer season will see disruptive passengers pay a £500 fine
Footage showed a woman being led off the grounded plane by several members of staff, after the flight from Tenerife to Glasgow Prestwick was diverted on May 18th.
A second video showed the woman being led outside the plane on the tarmac of the Portuguese airport.
Blair Morgan, a passenger on the plane, told MailOnline that passengers were left terrified after the ‘angry, hostile passenger was being aggressive towards staff and other passengers.’
‘The passenger made a [false] bomb threat towards everyone on the plane, along with saying she would “bottle” people with a glass wine bottle.
Blair said: ‘A lot of passengers didn’t know what to do. Everyone was distressed and scared. It was really scary – it’s not something you really expect.’
The airline said it hoped that taking a new ‘proactive approach’ on such incidents in future that ‘will act as a deterrent to eliminate this unacceptable behaviour onboard our aircraft.’
And in April, a Ryanair flight descended into chaos when staff were forced to strap an ‘unruly’ passenger to his seat using spare belts after he refused to sit down during landing.
The passenger onboard the flight from Manchester to Rhodes, Greece, on April 3 was shouting at cabin crew who onlookers said had confiscated two bottles of booze from him and refused to serve him alcohol .
And in April, a Ryanair flight from Manchester to Rhodes was forced to return to the air after attempting to land after a passenger refused to sit down
He failed to follow orders to sit down during landing, forcing the pilot to abort the descent, circle round, and land again.
Video shows staff and other passengers huddled around the man and a member of staff shouting: ‘Sit down, now.’
A separate clip shows police officers appearing to escort the man down the aisle upon landing.
Passenger Emily, 26, who filmed the incident, said: ‘The flight was going completely fine until the cabin crew came up to me and my partner at the front of the plane and asked us if we were travelling together and if we could be separated because a little girl needed to come down to the front of plane with her dad because a man was being disruptive.
‘We were together so they asked someone else instead who moved and that’s when I got made aware of this guy being really disruptive at the back of the plane.’
Emily explained how cabin crew had to get two spare seatbelts and tried pinning the man down on his seat.
Another Ryanair fee was the focus of charges last month when the airline was told to refund a passenger £124 over hand luggage charges could see budget airlines charge a pricier ‘all inclusive’ fare, an aviation legal expert warned today.
A landmark court ruling in Salamanca, Spain, decided that hand luggage is an essential part of air travel and should not be subject to extra fees.
Another Ryanair fee was recently in the spotlight after the airline was told to refund a passenger £124 over hand luggage charges after a court ruled it was an essential part of air travel and should not be subject to extra fees
The passenger involved in the case will be reimbursed £124 (€147) for hand luggage costs charged on five flights between 2019 and 2024 following the judgment.
Kevin Bodley, a consultant at Steele Raymond LLP Solicitors, which specialises in aviation law, said the decision has ‘potentially significant implications’ for English law and air travel policy.
He added that the ruling raises the likelihood that airlines in Spain will be forced to change policies to allow all standard sized cabin bags within a standard fare.
This could also lead to challenges on the legality of similar fees levied by other airlines, some of whom allow a free small personal bag but charge for larger bags.
The Spanish judgment was based on a decision by the European Court of Justice in 2014 in which it was said hand luggage is ‘an indispensable element of passenger transport and that its carriage cannot, therefore, be subject to a price supplement’.
The passenger’s claim was backed by Spanish consumer rights organisation Facua, in the latest case during a long-running battle against budget airlines.
The group has now won five rulings in recent months relating to hand luggage, against Ryanair and Vueling.
Facua has relied on article 97 of Spain’s Air Navigation law which states that airlines are ‘obliged to transport not only the passenger, but also, and without charging anything for it, the objects and hand luggage that they carry’ with them.
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