Ryanair: More than two pints and you’re grounded
Budget carrier want airports to limit pre-flight booze
RYANAIR want airports to slap a two-drink limit on passengers after arrests for drunken behaviour on flights rocketed 50 per cent in a year.
The budget airline have already banned customers from drinking duty-free alcohol on flights.
They have stopped people flying from Prestwick and Manchester to Alicante and Ibiza from bringing it on board the aircraft at all.
The firm are urging airports to ban the sale of alcohol before 10am and limit the number of drinks per boarding pass to a maximum of two.
Ryanair’s Kenny Jacobs said: “This is an issue which the airports must now address and we are calling for significant changes to prohibit the sale of alcohol at airports, particularly with early morning flights and when flights are delayed.”
The call comes after figures obtained by BBC Panorama from 18 out of 20 police forces with a major airport on their patch showed a surge in drunken behaviour arrests on flights or at airports.
There were 387 in the year to February 2017, up from 255 in the period from February 2015 to 2016. Ally Murphy, a former Virgin Airlines cabin crew manager, told last night’s Panorama: “People just see us as barmaids in the sky.
“I was pulled into an upperclass bed by a passenger who was feeling particularly lucky I guess.
“They would touch your breasts or touch your bum or your legs … I’ve had hands going up my skirt.”
Another cabin crew member said airline workers had found “countless” litre bottles of vodka and they felt that Alicante, Ibiza and Palma were among the worst routes. Alexandra Wilms, of the Balearic ministry of tourism, called for “high fines” for offenders.
Airport Operators’ Association chief executive Karen Dee rejected suggestions airports are irresponsibly selling alcohol.
She said: “The sale of alcohol per se is not a problem. It’s the misuse of it and drinking to excess and then behaving badly.”
The UK aviation industry brought in a voluntary code last year, signed by most big airlines and airports. It says they should limit disruptive behaviour and sell alcohol responsibly.