The budget airline said last week it planned to sue a passenger for €15,350 after a flight from Dublin to Lanzarote was forced to divert to Porto in April due to a disruptive passenger, who was arrested upon landing. 

It proved to be an extensive, and expensive, holdover in Portugal for Ryanair, with 160 passengers and six crew forced to stay overnight in Porto before boarding a flight the next morning.

For the disruptive passenger, that disruption could prove to be the biggest hangover in history.

On Monday, Ryanair provided an extensive breakdown of the costs it incurred from the diversion last April, which it was now seeking to recoup from the passenger. 

Included in the airline’s costs was a sizeable €7,000 bill to provide its 166 passengers and crew with overnight accommodation, and a €2,500 charge linked to Porto Airport’s landing and handling fees.

The airline also threw in a €750 charge for lost airline sales on the flight and €800 for excess fuel, among other costs.

Ryanair’s new line in the sand

“None of these costs would have been incurred if this disruptive passenger had not forced a diversion to Porto in order to protect the safety of the aircraft, 160 passengers and 6 crew members on board,” said a Ryanair spokesperson.

The airline said that the Portuguese prosecution ordered its case to be transferred to Ryanair’s home of Ireland. 

The lawsuit against one of its passengers marks a new line in the sand in Ryanair’s battle with rowdy passengers. The group’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, has lamented a rise in air rage on his flights, which he said occurred at a rate of once per week through the busy Summer travel season. 

O’Leary detailed steps his airline had taken to reduce incidents of disruption, including banning passengers from boarding flights with clear water bottles. However, he suggested increased drug use was exacerbating drunken behavior.

In its press release, the airline extended what was initially a U.K.-specific plea to introduce a two-drink limit in pubs to a Europe-wide call to action. 

“Airlines, like Ryanair, already restrict and limit the sale of alcohol on board our aircraft, particularly in disruptive passenger cases. However, during flight delays, passengers are consuming excess alcohol at airports without any limit on purchase or consumption

O’Leary ran into opposition when he first proposed an alcohol limit in U.K. airports in August last year, most notably from Wetherspoons CEO Sir Tim Martin. Martin argued O’Leary should stop serving discounted double Irish whiskeys on Ryanair flights before lecturing pub landlords on their own serving behavior. O’Leary hit back, saying he was happy to introduce his own in-flight drink limit if pubs followed suit.