Passengers on a Ryanair flight from Bristol had to suffer last Saturday the altered behavior of a group of about thirty drunk travelers, forcing the crew to report the situation to the control tower so that they alert the authorities. police forces.
Flight FR8296 left Bristol at 6pm on Saturday and arrived in Alicante at 9:20pm local time. The first to publicize the event were the Spanish air traffic controllers, through their Twitter account, where they warned that a flight approaching the Alicante-Elche-MiguelHernández airport from the United Kingdom had requested police presence on the ground due to the problems that about thirty drunken passengers were generating.
Since it is by no means the first time that events of this nature have occurred, the controllers ended their message by stating “we reiterate our support for the crews and passengers who have to suffer this type of situation.” Last April, a Norwegian flight covering the Oslo-Alicante route also reported a priority landing and police presence on the runway to Alicante airport control due to the fact that around fifteen passengers staged a massive fight at the tail of the plane.
It so happens that Ryanair had announced a few days ago the prohibition of drinking alcohol purchased in duty-free on its flights departing from the United Kingdom and arriving at Spanish coastal destinations such as Alicante, Malaga, Barcelona, ??the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands. The airline has warned that it will search bags and hand luggage to ensure that drinks are properly packaged and travel in the luggage compartments to avoid their consumption inside the cabin.
The English press has echoed the incident and has devoted a lot of attention to the announcement made by the Irish airline, in articles that have received dozens of comments on social networks that show that incidents involving drunk travelers are frequent and that the British public opinion is quite skeptical about the willingness of the airlines to put a stop to the problem.
Citing Ryanair sources, the Daily Express claims that the crew of the Bristol-Alicante flight on June 24 requested police assistance for the “disruptive” behavior of two passengers during the flight. And he adds that the flight landed normally and Spanish Police agents took the two problematic travelers before the rest disembarked without problems.
The debate on the presence on flights of people altered by the consumption of alcoholic beverages also affects the entities that manage airports, since there are many voices who see the sale and consumption in their facilities as an impediment when it comes to resolving a problem that can have serious consequences for aviation safety.
