British passenger hauled off Alicante flight for drinking duty free booze
The Ryanair flight from Manchester was diverted to Barcelona so the passenger could be removed from the plane
A reportedly disruptive British passenger was marched off a Ryanair flight by police on Friday April 5 after he downed a bottle of Disaronno, a type of amaretto, that he bought in the duty free. The Manchester to Alicante flight was diverted to Barcelona, where other frustrated travellers had to wait on the tarmac for 75 minutes.
This unwelcome diversion meant that the plane, which departed the UK at 6.08pm, didn’t actually land in the Costa Blanca until 11.28pm on Friday night – around two hours later than expected.
While the police in Barcelona were met with the usual cheers from passengers as the offender and his friend were led off the plane, most of those onboard were bemused by the whole episode.
In a recording of the scene, one woman commented: “A few too many drinks but they didn’t really do anything.”
In response, a fellow passenger said: “All they did was drink a bottle of Disaronno”, to which another woman replied, “give over...is that all they’ve done?”
Another added: “This is ridiculous. A flight to Alicante stopped in Barcelona because someone drank a bottle of Disaronno, lovely.
“How many police cars are outside? Two and a riot van because two lads have drank a bottle of Disaronno.”
While Ryanair has no problem with passengers purchasing duty free booze and carrying it on board, travellers are strictly prohibited from drinking it on the flight. On its website, the budget airline warns that infringements of these guidelines result in disciplinary action.
Ryanair’s terms and conditions also say the airline may refuse to carry a passenger if their “mental state, physical state, attitude, behaviour or appearance, including the effects of alcohol or drugs, presents a risk to them, other passengers or crew members, or any property.”
In this instance, the carrier stated that the Alicante flight was diverted “due to a disruptive passenger onboard”.
In other news: Brit arrested in Spain for selling illegal TV services
Image: @swannimalp/TikTok
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