By Issy Ronald, CNN

(CNN) — Ryanair, Europe’s biggest airline, has called for the sale of alcohol to be limited at European airports to minimize the disruption caused by drunk passengers onboard flights.

It called on the European Union to implement a two-drink limit per passenger at airports, imposing it by “using their boarding pass(es) in exactly the same way they limit duty free sales,” an airline spokesperson said in a statement Monday.

“During flight delays, passengers are consuming excess alcohol at airports without any limit on purchase or consumption,” the spokesperson added. “We fail to understand why passengers at airports are not limited to 2 alcoholic drinks… as this would result in safer and better passenger behaviour on board aircraft.”

The Ireland-based budget airline has filed legal proceedings against an unruly passenger who disrupted a flight from Dublin to Lanzarote in Spain in April last year.

Last week, the airline said it had filed for €15,000 ($15,400) in damages from the passenger after it said their “inexcusable behaviour forced this flight to divert to Porto where it was delayed overnight, causing 160 passengers to face unnecessary disruption.”

Ryanair’s chief executive Michael O’Leary has previously called for a two-drink limit at airports, telling UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph in August that he blamed drunken behaviour for increasing passenger violence.

Passenger violence on planes has increased in recent years, according to data released by The International Air Transport Association (IATA) last year. In 2023, there was one incident of unruly passenger behavior for every 480 flights compared to one for every 568 flights in 2022, the trade association said, without specifying how many of these incidents involved alcohol.

Ryanair noted that it and other airlines “already restrict and limit the sale of alcohol on board our aircraft, particularly in disruptive passenger cases.”

Being drunk on a plane to such an extent that you can endanger yourself or others is illegal in Ireland. It can result in a fine of up to £500 ($600) or, in extreme cases, up to four months’ imprisonment or a fine of £700 ($850).

The-CNN-Wire
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