Ryanair chief calls for ban on early-morning alcohol sales in airports

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has called for a ban on alcohol sales in airports during early morning hours, citing a rise in incidents involving disruptive passengers.

In an interview with The Times, he said the airline is increasingly dealing with situations in which inappropriate passenger behaviour forces aircraft to turn back or divert to other airports — on average, about once a day, compared with roughly once a week a decade ago.

O’Leary questioned the need for passengers to consume alcohol in airports at five or six in the morning, describing the practice as a “real challenge” for the industry: “I fail to understand why anybody in airports bars is serving people at five or six o’clock in the morning. Who needs to be drinking beer at that time?” 

He noted that, unlike retail stores, some airports do not impose time restrictions on alcohol sales and suggested introducing uniform rules limiting morning availability. The company leader also added that Ryanair typically restricts passengers to two alcoholic drinks on board.

At the same time, he criticised airports that continue selling alcohol even during flight delays, arguing that airlines end up bearing the consequences.

“If I go back ten years we would have maybe one flight diversion per week, now I would say we are running close to one diversion a day,” O’Leary said. “Until somebody creates an accident that causes a plane to crash and kills hundreds, no government will take this problem seriously and airlines are tearing their hair out.”

The discussion also highlighted that being intoxicated on board an aircraft is a criminal offence in the United Kingdom and can result in fines of up to £5,000 or imprisonment of up to two years.

By Jeyhun Aghazada