The boss of Ryanair has called for a ban on early morning alcohol sales at airport bars, warning pre-flight drinking is driving a surge in disruptive passenger behaviour.
Chief executive Michael O’Leary said the airline is now forced to divert almost one flight a day because of unruly passengers – up sharply from around one diversion a week a decade ago.
“It’s becoming a real challenge for all airlines,” Mr O’Leary told The Times.
“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?”
The Ryanair boss warned that authorities would only take the issue seriously after a major tragedy.
“Until somebody creates an accident that causes a plane to crash and kills hundreds, no government will take this problem seriously,” he said.
Airport bars currently operate outside standard licensing rules, allowing them to serve alcohol at any time of day.
But Mr O’Leary argued they should face the same restrictions as pubs and bars elsewhere in Britain.
The Ryanair boss warned that authorities would only take the issue seriously after a major tragedy
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“There should be no alcohol served at airports outside [those] licensing hours,” he declared.
The Ryanair chief has repeatedly pushed for a strict two-drink limit per passenger at airports, suggesting boarding passes could be used to enforce the rule.
“We have been calling for many years for a limit of two drinks per person per airport, why don’t you limit people by boarding pass?” he said.
According to Mr O’Leary, Ryanair staff rarely serve passengers more than two alcoholic drinks during flights.
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The Ryanair chief has repeatedly pushed for a strict two-drink limit per passenger at airports
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He instead accused airports of profiting from excessive drinking while leaving airlines to deal with the consequences.
“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.
Mr O’Leary also warned the combination of alcohol and drugs had made disruptive passengers more dangerous.
He said: “In the old days if somebody had drunk too much, they get on board, they fall asleep.
Mr O’Leary argued that airports should face the same restrictions as pubs and bars elsewhere in Britain
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“You have a combination of drink and drugs they want to fight somebody, they’re hyper.”
He added that female passengers were just as likely to cause trouble as men.
Flights to party destinations such as Ibiza, Alicante and Tenerife are said to have become hotspots for disruption, although routes from Ireland and Poland have also seen a growing number of incidents.
Civil Aviation Authority figures show airlines are now dealing with roughly 400 more disruptive passenger incidents each year compared with pre-pandemic levels.