Ryanair Flight Forced to Divert as Brawl Breaks out Among Passengers

A Ryanair flight from London to Lanzarote has been forced to divert to Faro, Portugal following a brawl that broke out mid-flight.

According to Portuguese police, the fight involved seven passengers, all believed to be British. One person has been arrested following the incident.

The plane left from Luton Airport, London at 8am this morning and was scheduled to arrive in Lanzarote at 12:15pm local time; however, a diversion was made to Faro with the flight landing at around 10:50am local time.

No information from Ryanair has been given concerning the remaining passengers at this time.

Incidents of anti-social behaviour leading to a flight’s diversion can incur hefty fines for those involved. These fines can reach draconian rates ranging in the thousands of Euros. In 2015, the Daily Mail reported that a passenger on a flight from the UK to Spain was charged with a £4,809 (€5,480) fine after his behaviour onboard caused the plane to make an emergency landing in Toulouse, France.

References

Couzens, G. (2024) Ryanair flight from UK to Canary Islands diverts to Portugal due to ‘on-board fight involving seven passengers’, Daily Mail Online. Available at: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12983339/Ryanair-flight-UK-Canary-Islands-diverts-Portugal-board-fight-involving-seven-passengers.html (Accessed: 19 January 2024).

Eade, C. (2015) Unruly passenger who forced flight to divert is fined £5,000 and banned from flying on jet2 for life after airline launched ‘zero tolerance’ campaign, Daily Mail Online. Available at: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3153217/Jet2-s-zero-tolerance-campaign-tackle-disruptive-behaviour-takes-unruly-passenger-fined-5k-handed-LIFETIME-flying-ban-flight-forced-divert.html (Accessed: 19 January 2024).