Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary wants airports to put alcoholic drink limit on flyers

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said airports should institute a two-drink limit on alcoholic beverages for flyers.

O’Leary believes that airports need to limit “the amount of alcohol that can be sold to any passenger to two alcoholic drinks” to help reduce instances of airline passengers becoming disruptive on flights, according to the Independent.

“In the same way that you have to show your boarding pass when you go through Duty Free to buy cigarettes or alcohol, we believe you should show your boarding pass to buy an alcoholic drink at a bar at an airport, and you shouldn’t be served more than two alcoholic drinks, particularly when flights are delayed,” he said.

Ryanair, an Irish ultra low-cost carrier, and other European airlines have seen a “spike” in disruptive passengers onboard planes “particularly this summer,” O’Leary said in an interview with the Independent.

O’Leary suggested “record high” flight delays this summer have contributed to the issue, as some travelers visit airport bars to pass time.

Air traffic control delays have contributed to flights not leaving on-time this summer, according to the Ryanair executive.

Ryanair has flown 58.4 million passengers over May, June and July of this year.

The Ryanair CEO also said he wanted to see “more effective” local fines for travelers who are removed from flights due to their disruptive behavior, according to The Independent.

The airline has been in touch with some European governments about the issue of disruptive passengers, O’Leary said.

A fact sheet published by the International Air Transport Association reported an annual “increase in the rate of reported unruly passenger incidents.”

The rate for 2023 was one incident per 480 flights, according to the IATA. In 2022, it was one for every 568 flights.