Ryanair passengers go to jail after riots – flight makes emergency landing

The flight had to make an emergency landing

Long prison sentences for rowdy Ryanair passengers

A man spent eight months behind bars for drunken rioting and fighting on a flight. He also had to pay a large fine.

A Portuguese airline passenger was sentenced to eight months in prison, a fine of 10,000 euros and compensation of 15,308 euros in Vigo, Spain. The man attacked passengers on a Ryanair flight from London to Lisbon in December 2023, forcing the captain to make an emergency landing in Vigo.

During the ruling, attacks on security officers were very serious. The passenger headbutted him and punched him in the face after landing in Vigo.

As reported by Spanish media, the 50-year-old passenger was thought to be very drunk when he boarded the plane on December 29 2023. Eyewitnesses on the flight, which was carrying 179 people (many of whom were children) and six crew members, reported that the man behaved “very, very violently”. On the flight he consumed alcohol, continuously banged the seat in front of him and ignored all instructions from the flight staff and captain.

During an emergency landing in Vigo at around 09.30, security forces removed the man from the plane. For other passengers, the diversion meant the journey was extended by several hours.

Ryanair welcomed the decision. Company spokesman Marcel Pouchain Meyer said: “It is unacceptable that a small number of disruptive passengers behaved badly on our flights and upset their fellow passengers. We welcome the punishment of these disruptive passengers by the Spanish courts.”

A week ago in Dublin, Ireland, a passenger on the low-cost airline was sentenced to three months’ probation. He rioted and attacked on a flight to Tenerife in September 2022. Because the man pleaded guilty, the sentence was rather light.

Ryanair announced: “We have a strict policy of zero tolerance for passenger bad behavior and will continue to take action to combat disruptive behavior on board – in the interests of the vast majority of passengers who do not disrupt flights.”