Wetherspoon boss hits out at Ryanair’s proposal to cut drinking at airports | News UK
Wetherspoon’s boss has responded after Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said airports should have a two-drink limit.
O’Leary, who is known for his controversial hot takes, raised some eyebrows after he proposed that travel hubs should be banned from serving alcohol before early morning flights.
Early drinking and ensuing bad behaviour was becoming a ‘real challenge’ for all airlines, not just Ryanair, he suggested in an interview with The Times.
Now JD Wetherspoon’s chief, Sir Tim Martin, has chimed in on the debate, saying that a drink limit would be impossible to implement.
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He claimed that a two-drink limit at airports would require passengers to be breathalysed.
Sir Tim Martin said it had ‘never been suggested’ its customers cause disruption on flights.
Sir Tim told The Times: ‘A two-drink limit would be extraordinarily difficult to implement, short of breathalysing passengers, and would, in our opinion, be an overreaction – especially since many of the problems stem from incoming flights.’
He added: ‘It is in everyone’s interests to have good behaviour at airports and on flights.’
Wetherspoon insisted that pubs in airports were ‘highly supervised’ with strict policies to prevent binge drinking.
Airside bars in the UK are not required to follow restrictions on opening hours which apply to other venues selling alcohol.
Unruly and drunk passengers causing disruption on planes face tough punishments.
Being drunk on a plane is a criminal offence in the UK and can be punished by a fine of up to £5,000 and two years’ imprisonment.
A court in France found two passengers guilty of causing disruption on board a flight from from Stansted to Ibiza that was diverted to Toulouse in May last year, a decision Ryanair welcomed.
The pair received a combined penalty of more than 10,000 euros (£8,640) and received suspended prison sentences of up to 10 months, according to the airline.
In January last year, Ryanair announced it had started taking legal action to recover losses against disruptive passengers when they force a flight to be diverted.
It said it filed legal proceedings against a passenger in Ireland to seek 15,000 euros (£12,500) in damages related to a flight from Dublin to Lanzarote.
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