ADVERTISEMENTIrish airline Ryanair is suing a passenger for €15,000 after unruly behaviour onboard one of its flights.
It is the first civil action of its kind in Ireland and comes as part of the low-cost carrier’s zero-tolerance policy for causing disruption on board.
The passenger in question had caused a flight from Dublin to Lanzarote last year to be diverted.
The airline has warned this will not be the last time it goes to court over unacceptable behaviour on its aircraft.
Ryanair sues passenger for disruptive behaviour
Ryanair filed legal proceedings in the Irish Circuit Court on 20 December for more than €15,000 in damages against a passenger that caused a flight from Dublin to Lanzarote to be diverted to Portugal.
The plane was forced to remain in Porto overnight on 9 April 2023 and the airline had to provide 160 passengers with overnight hotel accommodation.
“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,” the airline said in a statement.
“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.”
The airline has not given any further details on the identity of the passenger or what they did to cause the flight to be diverted.
Ryanair threatens unruly passengers with court action
The airline has underlined that future disruptive behaviour - which includes both verbal and physical abuse - may also be met with legal proceedings.
“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,” the airline continued in its statement.
“[The court action] 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,” a spokesperson added.
Will other airlines sue over unruly behaviour?
While this is the first occurrence of an airline suing a passenger over disruptive behaviour, it could set a precedent for other companies.
Dr Brian Flanagan, an associate professor at the School of Law and Criminology at Maynooth University, told RTÉ News that “other airlines are going to be looking closely at it”.
"I think if it is successful you will have a lot of people in the industry being quite satisfied and you might also have potential passengers being satisfied that there is this avenue of recourse," he said.