Airline president complained and asked for limits on alcohol sales at airports. The company says flights have frequently been diverted because of “undisciplined passengers”.
The habit of many Europeans of drinking a beer while waiting to board, even early in the morning, has come under the spotlight of the person responsible for the continent’s largest airline.
Michael O’Learyexecutive president of Ryanair, defended restrictions on the sale and consumption of alcohol in terminals, which, according to him, have affected low-cost operations.
In an interview with the British newspaper, O’Leary stated that, currently, the company is diverting around one flight per day due to the “bad behavior” of a passenger. According to him, ten years ago the average was one flight per week.
“It’s becoming a real challenge for all airlines. I can’t understand why anyone in airport bars serves drinks at five or six in the morning. Who needs to drink beer at that time?” asked the Irishman.
In the United Kingdom, for example, the sale of alcoholic drinks in pubs is only permitted from 11am, but the rule does not apply to establishments located within the country’s terminals.
“Alcohol should not be served at airports outside the opening hours stipulated in the licenses,” said the CEO of Ryanair.
“Airport pint”
But O’Leary went further and suggested, in the interview, another rule: that each passenger can only consume two alcoholic drinks before a flight, something that could be controlled through individual boarding passes. The airline had been making this claim since last year.
According to the businessman, Ryanair “rarely” offers more than two drinks per passenger during flights. However, it is not clear whether this is a formal rule by the company, which also did not respond to questions from the France-Presse (AFP) agency about the existence of restrictions on the hours for selling drinks on board.
“We act sensibly and responsibly, but those who don’t act responsibly and benefit from it are the airports,” O’Leary told the Times.
In some countries, travelers have the habit of having a beer early in the morning, before boarding the plane, in a kind of ritual that marks the beginning of their vacation. In England, this habit is known as “airport pint”.
However, in the country, being drunk on an aircraft is considered crimewith penalties that can reach 5 thousand pounds sterling (around 5900 euros) and two years in prison.
In January, Ryanair announced that it had begun taking legal action against “unruly” passengers to recover financial losses associated with diverted flights. The company said it had filed a compensation claim against a passenger in Ireland worth 15,000 euros for damages related to a flight between Dublin and the Canary Islands.
