Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary calls for end to pre-flight alcoholic drinks, citing increase in drunken fights

The boss of a major budget airline is calling for an end to pre-flight drinks at airports in the morning, blaming the behaviour of passengers.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said his airline was forced to divert flights most days because of drunken, aggressive passengers.

He linked the behaviour to the tradition of pre-flight alcoholic beverages at airport bars, which have different liquor licensing rules than those outside.

He said he wants to see uniform licensing inside and outside airports to curb the issue.

“I fail to understand why anybody in airport bars is serving people at five or six o’clock in the morning,” Mr O’Leary told The Times.

“Who needs to be drinking beer at that time? There should be no alcohol served at airports outside (those) licensing hours.”

Mr O’Leary has been calling for a two drink limit per-person “for many years” and accused airports of “profiteering” off the pre-flight tradition and “exporting the problem to airlines”.

He said Ryanair was “reasonably responsible” with their drink service, rarely serving more than two drinks per person.

However, Mr O’Leary said that an increase in drug use had exacerbated the problem and led to passengers “want(ing) to fight”.

“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,” Mr O’Leary said.

Particularly troublesome routes are those between the UK and Ibiza, Tenerife, and Alicante.

Another budget airline in the UK, Jet2, is lobbying for a national database of disruptive passengers after a drunken man tried to start a fight on board a flight with passengers and crew which led to an emergency landing last week.

Mr O’Leary has been at the helm of Ryanair for more than three decades.