A Ryanair flight from Dublin to Ibiza reportedly descended into chaos as passengers engaged in heavy drinking, mid-air toilet sex, and harassment, according to a passenger on board.
Passenger concerns at departure gate
A 64-year-old regular Ibiza visitor said she and other travellers were unsettled from the moment they reached the departure gates at Dublin Airport last week. She alerted ground staff to groups of passengers who “appeared to be inebriated”, but felt her concerns were not taken seriously.
“It really started at the departure gate. We arrived at the departure gate, and there were two groups of people that I was concerned about. They were making an awful lot of noise. They appeared to be inebriated and, given what Michael O'Leary had stated about not tolerating inebriated passengers on their flights, as I was about to board the plane, I brought the attention of a female member of the ground crew. She didn't feel happy that I was concerned about this,” she said.
Mid-air misconduct
Once on board, the situation deteriorated rapidly. The younger group, she said, “were all, I would say, 22 to 24, they were all male”. The stewards continued to serve alcohol to both groups despite warning them about their behaviour. Other passengers became visibly distressed. “The younger group was warned by the steward about the consequences of misbehavior, but they continued to play music and drink,” she told Newstalk.
“There was a young girl who was shaking from head to toe, and there was another lady who was just very agitated because the noise was just overwhelming.” A shirtless man and a young woman went into a bathroom together and remained inside for about ten minutes. Upon their exit to cheers from the two groups, a male flight steward inspected the room and returned with supplies to clean up what had been left behind.
She said: “There was a young girl saying that she could organise hookups with people on the flight, if they wanted. And at one point, a shirtless young guy, just in a pair of shorts, and a girl went into the toilet, and they came out about 10 minutes later. The steward opened the toilet door after they exited it. And whatever he saw, he then went and got a large bag of wet wipes.”
Harassment and intervention
A young man in a seat in front of her, who was verbally propositioning passengers, pointed at her and shouted: 'I want her'. She said: “He got up out of his seat and he pointed at me and he said, 'I want her'. At which point, my new friend Paul [the man sitting beside them on the flight] intervened. And I said to him: 'You need to be very, very careful, that man on the other side of the aisle is my husband'. My husband had both earplugs and headphones on, and his eyes closed.”
She added: “I said to him: 'You need to remove yourself from this, because my husband is getting very worked up by the noise and shouting and people jumping over seats and all the rest of it'. And it was only at that point that the young man realised that I wasn't a middle-aged woman on my own. Thank God my husband didn't hear it, because it could have been an unpleasant situation if my husband had heard, basically, a young man on a Ryanair flight sexually harassing me.”
Police and paramedics meet flight
On arrival at Ibiza Airport, the aircraft was met by emergency services. Paramedics boarded the plane and removed at least one passenger who appeared unwell, while members of the problematic groups were interviewed by police. She said: “When the flight landed, the steward said: 'Everyone, stay in your seats. The paramedics and the police are coming to the flight'. The young guy who had been shirtless, who was in the toilet with the girl, he was carried off the flight by paramedics. Two people from the group further down the flight were asked to go with the police.”
Aftermath and Ryanair statement
An elderly woman’s bag was misplaced, leading to further distress on a hot bus transfer. A man hurled abuse at her, and a Spanish police officer boarded the bus and shouted: 'No trouble in Spain'.
A Ryanair statement said: “Crew on this flight from Dublin to Ibiza called ahead for police assistance after two passengers became disruptive inflight. Due to their misbehaviour, crew refrained from serving these passengers alcohol from the bar, however, despite several warnings from crew, they continued to drink their own alcohol purchased pre-flight. Police met the aircraft upon landing at Ibiza Airport and these two disruptive passengers were removed. Ryanair has a strict zero tolerance policy towards passenger misconduct and will continue to take decisive action to combat unruly passenger behaviour, ensuring that all passengers and crew travel in a respectful and stress-free environment, without unnecessary disruption.”
