Ryanair’s O’Leary calls for morning pre-flight alcohol ban

Mounting concern over disruptive travelers has prompted Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary to call for a curb on alcohol sales in airport bars before morning departures, arguing that the move is needed to reduce incidents involving drunken and aggressive passengers.

Speaking to The Times in an interview published today, the airline chief said the issue had been intensifying.

He said Ryanair, which operates primarily across Europe, was now forced to divert nearly one plane every day because of passenger misconduct linked to excessive drinking.

“It’s becoming a real challenge for all airlines,” Michael O’Leary said.

Michael O’Leary argued that exemptions to alcohol sale-licensing rules at airport outlets were helping fuel the problem.

“There should be no alcohol served at airports outside [pub] licensing hours,” he said, adding that sales at other times should also be capped at two drinks per person, with boarding passes used to enforce the limit.

Ryanair had yet to respond to an AFP request confirming the time at which the airline starts selling alcohol aboard its flights.

“We are reasonably responsible but the ones who are not responsible, the ones who are profiteering off it, are the airports,” he told the daily.

Last year, Ryanair said it would impose a €500 fine on any passenger whose unruly behaviour led to their removal from an aircraft.

Mr O’Leary told The Times that the combination of alcohol and “people shoving powder (drugs) up their nose” was creating further trouble.

“And the women are as bad offenders as the men in this,” he added.