THE boss of Ryanair has said that airports should BAN the sale of alcohol before early morning flights.
Michael O’Leary has said that the rise in badly behaved passengers is causing huge problems for the airline, which has seen flights forced to divert.
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Michael O’Leary has said airport pints in the morning should be banned Credit: Reuters
Pubs at the airport do not have to follow the same licensing rules on serving alcohol Credit: Getty
This is particularly common on routes from Spain such as Ibiza, Alicante and Tenerife, as well as routes from Ireland.
Current rules allow pubs and restaurants in airports to serve alcohol at any time as they do not have to follow the same licensing rules elsewhere in the country.
He told The Times: “It’s becoming a real challenge for all airlines
“I fail to understand why anybody in airports bars is serving people at five or six o’clock in the morning. Who needs to be drinking beer at that time?”
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O’Leary has long been calling for a two-drink cap, something he says the airline tends to follow onboard.
He added: “We are reasonably responsible but the ones who are not responsible, the ones who are profiteering off it, are the airports who have these bars open at five or six o’clock in the morning and during delays are quite happy to send these people as much alcohol as they want because they know they’re going to export the problem to the airlines.”
He said that the problem is getting worse – previously the airline would have around one flight diversion a week, which has since increased to “one diversion a day”.
In a more serious warning, he said that “until somebody creates an accident that causes a plane to crash and kills hundreds, no government will take this problem seriously and airlines are tearing their hair out.”
Passengers drunk on a plane can face fines up to two years, and huge fines if they force a plane to divert of up to £80,000.
