DISRUPTIVE RYANAIR PASSENGERS who are removed from the plane will now be fined €500. 

The airline has announced the move in an attempt to tackle “unruly passenger behaviour”, which it said is an industry-wide issue that affects all airlines. 

“Passengers expect to travel in a comfortable and stress-free environment with an on-time arrival, free from unnecessary disruption caused by a tiny number of unruly passengers,” Ryanair said in a statement.

It confirmed that it will also continue to pursue disruptive passengers for civil damages in addition to the new “minimum” fine. 

A spokesperson for the airline said it is “unacceptable” that passengers are “made suffer unnecessary disruption because of one unruly passenger’s behaviour”.

“While these are isolated events which happen across all airlines, disruptive behaviour in such a confined shared space is unacceptable, and we hope that our proactive approach will act as a deterrent to eliminate this unacceptable behaviour onboard our aircraft.”

Ryanair has repeatedly called for airport bars to limit passengers to two alcoholic drinks per person in response to an increase in disorder on flights.

The airline said it believes the policy would result in “a safer travel experience for passengers and crews”.

In January, Ryanair announced it had started taking legal action to recover losses from disruptive passengers, as part of what it described as a “major misconduct clampdown”.

It said it had filed legal proceedings in the Irish Circuit Court, claiming over €15,000 in damages against a passenger who it alleges disrupted a flight from Dublin to Lanzarote last year.

Ryanair contends the passenger’s behaviour forced the flight to divert to Porto, where it was delayed overnight, resulting in 160 passengers to facing “unnecessary disruption as well as losing a full day of their holiday”.

It said the €15,000 consists of the cost of overnight accommodation, passenger expenses, and landing costs.

In May, a Ryanair passenger was fined €3,230 after causing disruption on a flight from Glasgow to Kraków that led to it being diverted to another Polish city.