Summary
- Drunken easyJet passenger arrested for trying to open aircraft door mid-flight, brawling with crew & passengers.
- British man, 28, was intoxicated before boarding and his condition got worse during the flight.
- Alicante has been a hotbed for passenger incidents, primarily due to drunken British travelers.
A drunken easyJet passenger has been arrested by Spanish police after attempting to open the doors of the aircraft mid-flight. The British tourist had been causing a disturbance onboard before brawling with passengers and crew and compromising flight safety.
Drunk passenger tried to open aircraft door
The unnamed 28-year-old Brit had boarded an easyJet flight from London Gatwick (LGW) to Alicante (ALC) – as per an Informacion.es report, the passenger was said to be drunk already when he boarded the flight in London, but his inebriation got worse as the flight continued, presumably due to the enhancing effects of being at a higher altitude. He allegedly began insulting and disturbing other passengers before launching a physical attack against them. The cabin crew then attempted to intervene but were also attacked.
Photo: Sonia Bonet | Shutterstock
It is said that during this brawl, the passenger attempted to open one of the plane doors to get off the aircraft, being so drunk that he did not realize the flight was still in the air. Other reports claim the man also attempted to “enter the cabin,” which likely refers to the cockpit and would add another serious charge to his actions. Eventually, passengers and crew were able to immobilize the passenger before it landed in Alicante.
Arrested upon arrival
The man’s dream of a sunny summer holiday in Alicante will not be realized after he was promptly arrested by police upon arrival in Alicante. The flight crew contacted Alicante control tower to inform them of a drunken passenger onboard, giving authorities time to meet the aircraft when it landed. Simple Flying has reached out to easyJet for comment and will update this story accordingly.
According to the Spanish Aviation Safety Agency, Alicante Airport has been a hotspot for passenger incidents, recording 184 incidents in 2023 – this is second only to Tenerife (TFS), which recorded 189. The agency added that the majority of incidents are due to drunken British travelers.
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The airline has made significant moves in the UK market in recent years.
Data from Cirium shows that easyJet currently operates five daily roundtrips between Gatwick and Alicante, predominantly with its Airbus A319 and A320 fleet, although the A321neo also operates a handful of weekly services. The budget carrier flies to Alicante from over 20 destinations across Europe, which includes 10 year-round UK airports and seasonal services from Belfast-City, Newcastle and Southampton.
The carrier’s relaunched Newcastle-Alicante route resumed on April 2nd and will run twice weekly until the end of October, while its once-weekly Southampton service launched a few days earlier, on March 31st. Having bounced back in 2023 following the pandemic, easyJet and other major European low-cost carriers are in the midst of their busiest-ever summer schedules.
Have you ever dealt with drunken tourists on a flight? Let us know your stories in the comment section.