{"id":473158,"date":"2026-05-07T14:57:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T14:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/473158\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T14:57:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T14:57:10","slug":"dawn-airport-drinkers-call-out-ryanair-boss-on-proposal-to-ban-holiday-ritual-airline-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/473158\/","title":{"rendered":"Dawn airport drinkers call out Ryanair boss on proposal to ban \u2018holiday ritual\u2019 | Airline industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

For most people, the idea of a pint with breakfast is pretty grim. But at the Wetherspoon\u2019s in Stansted\u2019s departure lounge on Thursday morning, it appeared to be the beverage of choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a holiday ritual,\u201d said Dee Wood, 60, a waste policy officer, who was enjoying a pint while waiting to board her Alicante-bound morning flight. \u201cIt\u2019s like the start of holiday,\u201d said her friend Rachel Almond, 59, a community planner, who was treating herself to a lager. \u201cWe don\u2019t get drunk, we just have a pint, say cheers and off we go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michelle Webb opted for a glass of wine instead. \u201cI don\u2019t like anything else,\u201d she said. For the trio, who were heading to Spain, starting their day with an alcoholic brew was not normal procedure. \u201cWe\u2019re not nervous flyers or anything,\u201d said Wood. \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t be drinking a pint at home at this time of day but it\u2019s just nice to do something different.\u201d<\/p>\n

But if Michael O\u2019Leary, gets his way, an early morning pint could become a thing of the past<\/a>. The Ryanair boss said airports should be banned from serving alcohol before early flights to reduce the number of disruptive passengers on planes, telling the Times on Wednesday that Ryanair was having to divert an average of nearly one flight a day because of bad behaviour onboard, up from one a week 10 years ago.<\/p>\n

The trio acknowledge that there may be occasional alcohol-induced bad behaviour on some flights. \u201cIf you were working on the plane and you\u2019ve got people who have had a few drinks, it can be a bit threatening, I guess, so I completely understand,\u201d said Wood.\u201d \u201cBut for us, its just a drink before boarding to say our holiday starts here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Our holiday starts here\u2019: from left: Michelle Web, Rachel Almond and Dee Wood at the Stansted Wetherspoon\u2019s. Photograph: Sammy Gecsoyler\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

In fact, she recalls one trip where a bit of booze made for better flying experience, turning the plane into a \u201cparty bus\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had the most hilarious flight of our life a couple of years back, it was a party atmosphere,\u201d she said. Almond recalled that \u201cthere was singing and it was the day before King Charles\u2019s coronation\u201d. She said there was a stag party who wore face masks bearing the monarch\u2019s image.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody was disrespectful to anybody, nobody was out of order or especially drunk,\u201d said Wood. \u201cIt\u2019s unusual to say the plane ride is the best part of the holiday because you just want to get there, but for me it really was. It was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

A few tables down, Cerys Parnell was enjoying a pint of Corona while waiting for her flight to San Sebasti\u00e1n, where she planned to \u201ceat lots, chill and hang by the pool\u201d and maybe \u201cdrink more\u201d.<\/p>\n

While the 24-year-old accountant would never normally have a pint at this time in the morning, she said her pre-flight beverage marked a \u201csense of freedom and venturing out of your normal routine\u201d, calling it a \u201csymbol of unwinding and relaxation. It\u2019s probably the only socially acceptable time you can have a pint before 10am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael O’Leary says Ryanair is having to divert an average of nearly one flight a day because of bad behaviour. Photograph: Thierry Monasse\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Parnell doubts O\u2019Leary\u2019s call for a ban is serious: \u201cI don\u2019t see any harm in having a single pint and I don\u2019t think he would either.\u201d She also fails to see why the time of day would be relevant. \u201cIf it was seven at night and someone was antisocial I would also say they shouldn\u2019t be drinking either \u2013 even though that is a socially acceptable time to be drinking. It\u2019s not really timing, it\u2019s more the amount.\u201d<\/p>\n

She is far from the only person taking against O\u2019Leary\u2019s call. The boss of JD Wetherspoon\u2019s, Tim Martin, told the Times<\/a> a ban was an \u201coverreaction\u201d that would be \u201cextraordinarily difficult to implement\u201d.<\/p>\n

But some holidaymakers opted for something less potent. \u201cWe\u2019ve been up early,\u201d said Alisha Philip, 34, a team leader, who had just finished her cup of breakfast tea. She was heading to the south of France with her partner, Sean Ryan, who also went for a non-alcoholic drink.<\/p>\n

The 44-year-old football coach said the pair had \u201cno problem\u201d with others enjoying a morning pint. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s just part of the culture in England, especially when they\u2019re going on holiday,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Philip agreed: \u201cIt\u2019s just the norm. People come and have a pre-drink before their holiday but its personal preference and we\u2019re not really drinkers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple also doubt the urgent need for a ban. \u201cI\u2019ve never personally seen anybody with an issue with alcohol on a flight,\u201d said Ryan. \u201cThat\u2019s my experience.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For most people, the idea of a pint with breakfast is pretty grim. But at the Wetherspoon\u2019s in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":473159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[265],"tags":[18,117,19,17,128],"class_list":{"0":"post-473158","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-tv"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116533883442905617","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}