A man who allegedly urinated inside the cabin and intimidated children on a Jet2 flight has received a lifetime ban from the airline.
The passenger is accused of displaying a "catalogue of disgraceful behaviour" during the flight from Glasgow Airport to Tenerife South last week, including aggression towards staff and customers and the illicit consumption of alcohol on board.
Jet2 said the man's actions forced the pilot to make an emergency landing in Faro, Portugal, where he was removed from the plane by local police.
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Jet2 is now threatening to sue the traveller for costs of the diversion, which they say will likely reach a "five-figure sum". According to a fellow passenger, he was "already drunk" before boarding the flight on Thursday, April 13, and continued to consume alcohol on the plane.
The customer, who was travelling with his wife and 15-year-old daughter, told the Daily Record: "I'm surprised he was allowed on the plane. He continued drinking on board and kept going to the toilet."
"About two and half hours into the flight, he started shouting and being disruptive on the plane. It was a nightmare. My daughter was quite upset and there were a lot of younger children on the plane who were really scared."
Furious holidaymakers had to disembark the aircraft at Faro, so that it could be deep-cleaned by staff, adding a two hour delay to their journey. The unscheduled stop also meant customers due to travel back to Glasgow from Tenerife had to spend another night in the Canary Islands because of the late arrival of the aircraft.
Jet2 managing director Phil Ward said the airline will now "vigorously pursue" the man for the costs of the diversion, including hotel accommodation for customers and crew in Tenerife, airport charges, fuel costs, and cleaning costs.
He said: “[This man's] behaviour was absolutely disgraceful, and we would like to apologise to all of our customers on board and colleagues who have been impacted or affected. As a family friendly airline, we take a zero tolerance approach to such behaviour and we would like to thank the Portuguese authorities for their assistance in offloading [the passenger].”
He added: “As we have done before, we will now vigorously pursue [him] for all the costs that we incurred as a result of this diversion, as well as banning him for life. We have a very busy summer coming ahead and the safety and well-being of everyone on board our flights is paramount.
"This event should act as a stark warning to anyone who thinks that it might be acceptable to behave in an unacceptable manner onboard one of our flights."
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