The carrier said it would continue to pursue disruptive passengers for civil damages, “but at a minimum, they will now be issued with a £500 fine”. 

Ryanair confirmed the fine was now part of its terms and conditions. The small print says it will pursue costs of any diversion and now adds:

“In addition, we reserve the right to fine you €500 where your behaviour results in you being offloaded, including where no diversion was required.”

A Ryanair spokesperson said: “It is unacceptable passengers are made to suffer unnecessary disruption because of one unruly passenger’s behaviour. 

“To help ensure that our passengers and crew travel in a comfortable and stress-free environment, without unnecessary disruption caused by a tiny number of unruly passengers, we have introduced a £500 fine, which will be issued to any passengers offloaded from aircraft as a result of their misconduct.

"While these are isolated events which happen across all airlines, disruptive behaviour in such a confined shared space is unacceptable, and we hope that our proactive approach will act as a deterrent to eliminate this unacceptable behaviour onboard our aircraft.”