Badly behaved passengers will be fined €500, Ryanair has announced.
The budget airline said the measures would deter passengers from acting up while travelling with them.
Ryanair is currently taking a number of civil legal actions, in Ireland and elsewhere in Europe, against passengers whose behaviour has disrupted flights.
On Lunchtime Live, travel writer Joan Scales said it “should have happened a long time ago”.
“Disruptive and unruly passengers cause havoc for everybody else,” she said.
“If you’ve 200 people on a Ryanair flight, then 199 people are going to be disrupted, upset and absolutely could end up God knows where because the flight has to detour somewhere else on board.
“So, yes, I think they probably should have introduced it before now but I’m glad to see they have.
“And I’m glad to see they’re going to continue prosecuting people who disrupt flights because they’ve been doing that recently.”
A Ryanair aeroplane at Dublin Airport. Photo: Sasko Lazarov/© RollingNews.ieRyanair fines
Ms Scales continued that, in her experience, Ryanair staff are “very patient” and “so well-trained to handle unruly passengers”.
“You have to go a long way to test their patience, to be honest, and to be actually put off the flight,” she said.
“They should be fining them before it gets to that stage.
“€500, I think it should be more.”
Ryanair has said they will deduct the €500 fine directly from a passenger’s credit card.
Main image: A Ryanair Boeing in Spain. Picture by: Greg Bajor / Alamy Stock Photo
