Airline chief executive calls for 2-drink limit at airports

(NewsNation) — The leader of Europe’s largest budget airline has called for an alcohol limit at European airport bars, citing unruly passengers and a rise in flight disruptions.

Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O’Leary told the Daily Telegraph that passengers should only be permitted two drinks to prevent outbursts.

“So, 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 have to show your boarding pass to buy an alcoholic drink at a bar at an airport,” O’Leary told The Independent.

An International Air Transport Association fact sheet shows an annual increase in “the rate of reported unruly passenger incidents” from 2022 to 2023. The incident rate in 2022 was one per 568 flights, rising to one per 480 in 2023.

O’Leary, who started the airline in 1984, also blamed drugs for what he calls an all-time high of air rage.

“In the old days, people who drank too much would eventually fall over or fall asleep. But now those passengers are also on tablets and powder … It’s the mix. You get much more aggressive behavior that becomes very difficult to manage,” he told the publication.

Ryanair flew 58.4 million passengers during May, June and July of this year, according to the New York Post.