Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has called for a two drinks per passenger limit at airports to curb what he says is an increase in drunken violence on flights.
Attacks now occur on a weekly basis, the airline chief told the Telegraph on Tuesday, adding that cabin crew and passengers have fallen victim.
Mr O’Leary blamed a combination of alcohol with “powder and tablets”.
He told the publication: “It’s not that easy for airlines to identify people who are inebriated at the gate, particularly if they are boarding with two or three others. As long as they can stand up and shuffle they will get through. Then when the plane takes off we see the misbehaviour.
“We don’t want to begrudge people having a drink. But we don’t allow people to drink-drive, yet we keep putting them up in aircraft at 33,000 feet.”
Mr O’Leary suggested allowing no more than two drinks per passenger before they board an aircraft. The restriction is reportedly one of his three main recommendations for the Labour Government.
Flights from the UK are particularly prone to violence, especially on services to “party destinations” such as Ibiza and some Greek islands from regional airports including Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Ryanair has resorted to searching the bags of passengers bound for Ibiza before they are allowed to board.
Mr O’Leary said: “In the old days people who drank too much would eventually fall over or fall asleep. But now those passengers are also on tablets and powder.
“It’s the mix. You get much more aggressive behaviour that becomes very difficult to manage. And it’s not directed just at the crew. Passengers fighting with each other is now a growing trend on board the aircraft.”
Sinead Quinn, who is responsible for the training of Ryanair’s 14,000 cabin crew, said the company was having to resort to passenger bans.
She said: “The UK is most challenging, the regions in particular. But there’s no particular profile. You have groups of young people, but it can be families and those you least expect.”
Passengers on Ryanair flights are permitted to have duty-free alcohol on board, but they’re not able to drink it during a flight.
The budget airline enforces a ban on some duty-free items for anyone flying from the UK to Ibiza, Alicante, Barcelona, Malaga, Palma and Tenerife South.
The ban came after 15 people were removed from a Ryanair plane at Manchester Airport in April for being drunk, causing a five-hour delay.
If people are found concealing alcohol or bringing it on board, they will be removed from the flight with no refund or compensation.
