Ryanair confirmed this week that it has filed legal proceedings in the Irish Circuit Court claiming over €15,000 in damages against a passenger who disrupted flight FR7124 from Dublin to Lanzarote on 9th April 2024. This passenger’s inexcusable behaviour forced this flight to divert to Porto where it was delayed overnight, causing 160 passengers to face unnecessary disruption as well as losing a full day of their holiday.
In a statement the airline said: “It is completely unacceptable that passengers who work hard to enjoy a trip away with family/friends are robbed of the pleasure due to one passenger’s failure to behave.”
Ryanair is committed to ensuring that all passengers and crew travel in a safe and respectful environment, without unnecessary disruption caused by a tiny number of unruly passengers. Ryanair has a strict zero-tolerance policy towards passenger misconduct and will continue to take decisive action to combat unruly passenger behaviour on aircraft for the benefit of the vast majority of passengers who do not disrupt flights.
Ryanair, along with all other Irish airlines, airports, handling agents, the Gardaí and the IAA have signed up to a declaration to combat unruly passenger behaviour in airports and on flights as part of the #NotOnMyFlight campaign.
There has been a 3-fold increase in passenger unruly behaviour reported between 2019 and 2023. Unruly behaviour can include intoxication, aggressive or inappropriate behaviour as well as not following the commands of flight crew, who are there to ensure passenger safety. The declaration sets out how the aviation industry aims to combat the issue of unruly behaviour on flights. The vast majority of passengers comply with instructions and show respect to staff and other passengers.
The signatories of this Joint Declaration recognise the need to actively promote good passenger conduct due to the adverse impact that disruptive and unruly behaviour can have on the safety of a flight and passenger experience. The signatories of the joint declaration will not tolerate any behaviour that has the potential to disrupt the passenger experience, impact the safety of the cabin crew and airport staff or create a safety risk to the aircraft and those on board the flight. This includes physical and sexual assault, threatening and abusive behaviour and generally disruptive acts.
A Ryanair spokesperson said: “It is unacceptable that passengers – many of whom are heading away with family or friends to enjoy a relaxing Summer holiday – are suffering unnecessary disruption and reduced holiday time as a result of one unruly passenger’s behaviour. Yet this was regrettably the case for passengers on this flight from Dublin to Lanzarote last April, which was forced to divert to Porto as a result of an individual passenger’s disruptive behaviour, causing €15,000 in overnight accommodation, passenger expenses, and landing costs. We have now filed civil proceedings to recover these costs from this passenger.
This demonstrates just one of the many consequences that passengers who disrupt flights will face as part of Ryanair’s zero tolerance policy, and we hope this action will deter further disruptive behaviour on flights so that passengers and crew can travel in a comfortable and respectful environment.”
