drunks

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has called for airports stop serving alcohol before early morning flights. According to their argument, bad behavior on board does not stop growing and they think that through this initiative they would not have to divert their flights due to the behavior of some passengers. A growing problem. “If I go back ten years, we had maybe one deviation a week. Now we are close to one a day,” counted O’Leary himself told The Times. According to data from the British Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), airlines record around 400 more disruptive incidents per year than before the pandemic. Why airports have wide beams. Unlike conventional bars and restaurants, establishments within the UK boarding zones are exempt from time restrictions that regulate the sale of alcohol in the rest of the country. That means they can open and serve drinks at any time, including five or six in the morning. “I don’t understand why anyone serves beer at that time. Who needs to drink at five in the morning?” continued O’Leary. What Ryanair asks for. The Irish airline has been demanding a limit of two drinks per passenger at airports for years, something that, according to O’Leary, the company itself already applies on board its planes. Now it goes one step further and requires that airports respect the same alcohol sales schedules that apply to other establishments. Their idea is that this limit be linked to the boarding pass, to make control more effective. “Those who do not act responsibly, those who profit, are the airports that have those bars open at five or six in the morning and that, during delays, are happy to serve all the alcohol they want because they know that they export the problem to the airlines,” counted the manager in the middle. Furthermore, O’Leary also points out drug use as the main aggravating factor. The most affected routes. According to account The Times, the flights with the highest incidence of problematic behavior are those that connect the United Kingdom with leisure destinations such as Ibiza, Alicante or Tenerife. Routes from Ireland and Poland also experience frequent problems. What the law says. Being drunk on a plane is a crime in the United Kingdom, punishable by fines of up to £5,000 and two years in prison. If things go further and force the airline to divert the flight, the economic consequences can reach 80,000 pounds (which is make a Melendi in every rule). Ryanair has already taken legal action against passengers who caused diversions. According to the media, in January of last year he filed a lawsuit in Ireland against a traveler claiming 15,000 euros for a diverted flight on the Dublin-Lanzarote route. The risks are real. “Until someone causes an accident that causes a plane crash with hundreds of deaths, no government will take this problem seriously. And the airlines are desperate,” counted O’Leary to The Times. Other companies such as Jet2 are also pushing to create a national database that would allow troublesome passengers to be banned from all British airlines. AirportsUK, the organization that brings together the country’s airports, defends that they already work together with the rest of the sector through awareness campaigns. Cover image | Niels Baars and BENCE BOROS In Xataka | European airlines are taking advantage of the Iran crisis to accelerate something old: making your trip even more complicated.