Crew on a Ryanair flight to Tenerife were forced to call ahead to local police before touching down to request assistance in removing a passenger displaying “disruptive” behaviour.
The incident occurred on Tuesday, 25 February on a flight from Cork, Ireland to Tenerife South Airport.
A Ryanair spokesperson told The Independent the crew had to call ahead for police assistance after the passenger displayed the “disruptive” behaviour onboard.
The disruptive passenger was a woman who was arguing with other passengers, GB News reported, who was repeatedly asked to sit down by cabin crew but appeared to fail to comply.
“The aircraft was met by local police upon arrival at Tenerife Airport and this passenger was removed,” the Ryanair spokesperson added.
The low-cost carrier said it has “a strict zero-tolerance policy towards passenger misconduct and will continue to take decisive action to combat unruly passenger behaviour, ensuring that all passengers and crew travel in a safe and respectful environment, without unnecessary disruption.”
“This is a matter for local police,” the spokesperson added.
Ryanair has recently launched a “major misconduct clamp down” against disruptive passengers, with the airline now filing legal proceedings for damages.
The airline said in early January it had filed legal proceedings in the Irish Circuit Court claiming over €15,000 (£12,379) in damages against a passenger who disrupted a flight from Dublin to Lanzarote in April last year.
The passenger’s “inexcusable behaviour” forced the flight to divert to Porto, where it was delayed overnight and caused 160 passengers to lose a full day of their holiday.
“It is unacceptable that passengers – many of whom are heading away with family or friends to enjoy a relaxing summer holiday – are suffering unnecessary disruption and reduced holiday time as a result of one unruly passenger’s behaviour,” an airline spokesperson said.
The damages amount to the overnight accommodation fees, passenger expenses and landing costs, which the airline is seeking to recover from the disruptive passenger.
“This 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,” the spokesperson added.
Last month on a Ryanair flight from Lanzarote to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, a passenger who claimed to be a United Nations diplomat had to be forcibly removed by police.
The man was refusing to cooperate with the crew, show his boarding pass or move to a different seat after demanding to be relocated to the front row.
After a tense exchange, the pilot ordered the disruptive passenger to be removed by the local police before the flight continued to its destination.
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