Ryanair has shared a breakdown of costs and fees it claims were incurred as a ‘direct result’ of a disruptive passenger who flew from Ireland to Lanzarote last year.
The budget airline shared the costs after it was revealed last week that it had filed a civil claim against the passenger seeking more than €15,000 in damages. The incident occurred on board a Ryanair flight last April and forced the plane to divert to Porto, where it stayed overnight.
Ryanair claims they had to spend the night in Portugal due to crew hours restrictions. This meant covering the costs of keeping the plane on the tarmac overnight, paying for hotel rooms for all passengers and crew, and covering the excess fuel needed for the journey.
The accommodation for passengers and crew came out to €7,000, while the fuel and airport fees cost the airline €800 and €2,500, respectively. Ryanair is also requesting that the disruptive passenger pay for the cost of a replacement crew for the return flight, the loss of in-flight sales, and their legal fees in Portugal, which they incurred as a result of the unplanned landing.
You can find a full cost breakdown below.
The cost breakdown provided by Ryanair
(Image: DublinLive)
In a statement, Ryanair said that European governments “repeatedly fail to take action when disruptive passengers threaten aircraft safety and force them to divert” and repeated calls for airline passengers to be limited to two alcoholic drinks in airports to provide a safer travel experience.
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: “None of these costs would have been incurred if this disruptive passenger had not forced a diversion to Porto in order to protect the safety of the aircraft, 160 passengers and 6 crew members on board. European Governments repeatedly fail to take action when disruptive passengers threaten aircraft safety and force them to divert.
“In this case, the Portuguese Prosecution ruled that because the aircraft and the passenger are Irish, this case should be transferred to Ireland.
“Ryanair is therefore taking a civil proceeding against this passenger in the Irish Courts to recover these costs, which were incurred wholly and exclusively as a result of the disruptive passenger’s behaviour, which caused not just a diversion, but an overnight in Porto of over 160 passengers and 6 crew members and the operating aircraft.
“It is time that EU authorities take action to limit the sale of alcohol at airports. Airlines like Ryanair, already restrict and limit the sale of alcohol on board our aircraft, particularly in disruptive passenger cases. However, during flight delays, passengers are consuming excess alcohol at airports without any limit on purchase or consumption.
“We fail to understand why passengers at airports are not limited to 2 alcoholic drinks (using their boarding pass in exactly the same way they limit duty-free sales), as this would result in safer and better passenger behaviour on board aircraft and a safer travel experience for passengers and crews all over Europe.”