A Ryanair passenger has described the chaos on her flight from Dublin to Ibiza, with drunken debauchery including a couple going into the toilet together. The woman said she feared trouble when she arrived at Dublin Airport, seeing two groups of people who appeared to be 'inebriated' and making a lot of noise.
She told how it got worse onboard with one group of young men and another made up of slightly older men and women. She claimed the stewards continued to serve people in both groups alcohol, despite warning them about their behaviour.
Passenger recounts mid-air incidents
The younger group was warned by the steward about the consequences of misbehaviour, 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.'
She said a shirtless man and a young woman went into a bathroom together before exiting to cheers. '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.'
Sexual harassment claim
She then said a young man in a seat in front of her, who was propositioning passengers, pointed at her and shouted: 'I want her.' She continued: 'At which point, my new friend [the man sitting beside her 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.'
'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 met flight
On arrival at Ibiza Airport, the aircraft was met by paramedics and 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.'
A Ryanair spokesperson told The Mirror: 'Crew on this flight from Dublin to Ibiza (13 Jul) 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.'
