A Scots couple left cowering in their seats after drunken louts caused chaos on a flight to Ibiza have hit out at Ryanair for failing to control the troublemakers. The married duo from North Lanarkshire were looking forward to a relaxing break when they boarded the plane at Edinburgh Airport on September 25, but were instead subjected to a ‘horrific’ three hours of travel.
Video footage has emerged showing a rowdy group of passengers partying in the aisle as they blasted loud music from a boombox while swigging vodka from a bottle. The woman told how her husband, 58, who has a heart condition, was accosted on the way back from the bathroom by a boozed-up youth, who hit his hand before making a rude gesture.
Other passengers were also allegedly subjected to verbal abuse and harassment by members of the 70-strong group with plane staff unable to calm them. After returning from holiday, a formal complaint was made to the airline over the incident but the couple received a “copy and paste” reply on November 26, which took “no responsibility and gave no assurances that it wouldn’t happen again”.
The 55-year-old mum said: “The response from Ryanair was a joke. I didn’t expect any else though to be honest. They’ve got you there because it’s cheap flights but even though it’s a bargain, you shouldn’t have to go through that. Passenger safety comes first.
“There was no control over that plane at all. It was horrific from the minute we got on. There were about 70 of them who all came from the same area. They had a big black speaker at the highest volume you could get which was blaring for three hours.
“They were banging on the roof, taking their tops off, and opening their drink that they had bought at duty free. The only time Ryanair came near them was to serve them more drink. I didn’t even want to go to the toilet because they were getting drunker and drunker.
“My husband went to the bathroom and on his way back, this guy hit my husband’s hand as if to do a high five but then gave him the fingers. The other passengers were getting really annoyed at this behaviour and it could have erupted into a full blown war.”
The mum claims that one female passenger had to forcibly shove a young man away from her after he refused to leave her alone. And the chaos continued as the plane prepared to land amid bad weather on the Balearic island.
The stressed traveller added: “When we went to land, there was a storm which was bad enough. The air hostess was shouting over the speaker to sit down or the plane wasn’t going to land because they were all still standing up.
“There were no police waiting for them at the airport. I understand that they were happy and excited about going on their holiday. I’ve flown to Ibiza for the last 16 years to the same wee place. I’ve seen a bit of partying on the flights before but nothing like this.
“It could have been an absolute riot because they were banging into people, shouting in peoples faces. There could have been a war on that plane.
“People were scared to go to the toilet but they were scared they were going to get head butted or hit with a bottle of Grey Goose that was flying about that they had bought at duty free.
“It was a horrible experience. I get that you’ve got to expect a bit of partying and I understand that. But my husband and I have had a tough year with lots of sad things happening so we thought we’d go away and chill out.
“We got off the flight and were like ‘Oh my God, we need a drink’. I’ve got a boy at 22. If I thought he was behaving like that on a plane with children and a mixed age group, I would be so embarrassed about it because it was horrific.”
The couple have vowed never to fly with Ryanair again after they took a month to reply to their complaint and simply apologised for “any inconvenience caused”.
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: “A group of passengers on this flight from Edinburgh to Ibiza became disruptive mid-flight.
“To diffuse the situation and minimise any disruption to passengers, crew made several announcements throughout the flight and refused to serve more than two alcoholic drinks to each passenger.
“Passengers ceased their disruptive behaviour before landing safely in Ibiza.”
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here .
