The low-cost carrier is pursuing a case in the Irish Circuit Court against an unruly passenger on a flight from Dublin to Lanzarote in April 2024.
The airline said: “This passenger’s inexcusable behaviour forced this flight to divert to Porto where it was delayed overnight, causing 160 passengers to face unnecessary disruption as well as losing a full day of their holiday.
“It is completely unacceptable that passengers who work hard to enjoy a trip away with family/friends are robbed of the pleasure due to one passenger’s failure to behave.”
A Ryanair spokesperson said the €15,000 claim was for the cost of overnight accommodation, passenger expenses and landing costs, adding: “We have now filed civil proceedings to recover these costs from this passenger.”
The case follows another prosecution in Athens in December, where a Ryanair passenger who disrupted a flight to the city in 2020 by refusing to follow crew instructions was given a five-month suspended prison sentence and a €400 fine.
Jet2 has also taken a stiff line on bad passenger behaviour. In the latest incident, in November, a 79-year-old woman was escorted off a Jet2 flight by police in Bodrum in a row over a £9 tuna roll.
The woman claimed the roll was part-frozen and refused to pay, but Jet2 said she had “displayed a catalogue of disruptive behaviour”, including consumption of her own alcohol she had taken on board.
