Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary ‘happy’ to introduce two-drink booze limit on flights
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has said he is prepared to introduce a two-drink limit on his planes – if the same rule is applied to airport bars.
His call for alcohol restrictions comes after a “spike” in violent disorder among passengers over the summer.
Mr O’Leary told Sky News last month that Ibiza was one of the worst-affected destinations.
On Sunday, a Ryanair flight from Manchester to Ibiza was diverted to Toulouse in France after a group of passengers became disruptive.
Asked by Sky News if he would restrict passengers to two alcoholic drinks, Mr O’Leary said he would be “happy to do it tomorrow”.
He added: “If the price of putting a drink limit on the airport, where the problem is being created, is putting a drink limit on board the aircraft, we’ve no problem with that.
“The real issue is how do we stop these people getting drunk at airports particularly as, like this summer, we’ve had a huge spike in air traffic control delays.
“They’re getting on board with too much alcohol in their system. If we identify them as being drunk on board, we don’t serve them alcohol. But that doesn’t solve the problem.”
The Ryanair’s boss was speaking ahead of the company’s annual meeting in Dublin, where he told shareholders passenger traffic was on target to grow by 8% to 200 million this year.
Michael O’Leary. Pic: Reuters
Mr O’Leary also repeated his call for Martin Rolfe, the boss of Nats – the air traffic controller firm for many of the UK’s biggest airports – to be sacked over chaos at Gatwick Airport last summer.
“He’s demonstrated over a number of years that he’s incompetent,” Mr O’Leary claimed.
“It keeps breaking down as recently as last week, short-staffed at Gatwick. The Gatwick airlines had to cancel about 60 flights on Sunday.
“These repeatedly happen every summer. It’s not acceptable that someone who keeps delivering failure stays in his job. He should be dismissed.”
Nats said last year that the problems at Gatwick Airport had been caused by “an extremely rare set of circumstances” involving its technical infrastructure.
Mr Rolfe also apologised and said the organisation had “put measures in place to ensure it does not happen again”. He described Ryanair’s approach surrounding the issue as “abrasive” in a letter to a parliamentary committee.
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Meanwhile, Mr O’Leary also discussed the UK’s political outlook after previously saying Sir Keir Starmer “couldn’t be any worse” than the Conservatives.
He said on Thursday: “He’s getting his feet under the desk, it’s early days yet, but at least he has a big majority and you don’t have the kind of Tory psycho-drama going on”.
“Thankfully most of the Brexiteers have now lost their seats and are out in the wilderness,” he added.
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Michael O’Leary also spoke to Sky News last month
Mr O’Leary also claimed that Brexit had done “untold damage to the UK economy” and called for closer UK alignment with EU rules.
He added: “It’s good for the UK and it’s good for Europe. I don’t think anybody wants the UK back in the EU, but Europe is still the UK’s biggest market, by some considerable distance.
“The Brexiteers have failed to deliver any of the trade agreements they promised at the time of Brexit… Most of them have left the stage despite being in charge when they delivered their shambolic hard-deal Brexit.”
A spokesperson for Nats told Sky News: “We are very sorry for Sunday’s disruption which was also disappointing for our highly professional Gatwick team, who are doing all they can to provide a seamless 24/7 service.”
They added: “This summer, since April, we have managed more than 124,000 flights at Gatwick, 2.7% up on last year and our service has been fully available over 99% of the time, 24 hours per day, every day.
“Any cancellation is one too many. On the rare occasions when we have had to reduce the flow of traffic at Gatwick, we have done everything possible to minimise disruption.”
Four people have been arrested by police investigating cyber attacks targeting M&S, Co-op and Harrods.
A 20-year-old woman and two males, both aged 19, and a male aged 17, were detained in London and the West Midlands this morning as part of a National Crime Agency (NCA) operation.
They were arrested at their homes on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act offences, blackmail, money laundering and participating in the activities of an organised crime group.
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Electronic devices were seized from the suspects and are currently being analysed by forensic experts.
M&S halted online orders, and shelves were empty in shops after the cyber attack on the retailer earlier this year.
The initial hack into the retailer’s systems took place in April through “sophisticated impersonation” involving a third party.
Disruption is expected to continue at the retailer until the end of this month.
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Mickey Carroll in May answered why M&S cyber attack was so bad.
The Co-op and Harrods were also subsequently targeted by hackers.
Paul Foster, head of the NCA’s National cybercrime unit described the arrests as a “significant step” in their investigation, which remains “one of the Agency’s highest priorities”.
He added: “…our work continues, alongside partners in the UK and overseas, to ensure those responsible are identified and brought to justice.”
The National Crime Agency is keen to “signal” to “future victims” the “importance of seeking support and engaging with law enforcement”, stating that “the NCA and policing are here to help”.
The NCA has also thanked M&S, Co-op and Harrods for their support in their investigations.
The arrests, which took place early on Thursday morning, were supported by officers from the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit and the East Midlands Special Operations Unit.
Earlier this week, the chairman of M&S told MPs that the hack had been “traumatic” and like an “out-of-body experience”.
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Archie Norman, however, refused to be drawn on whether the retailer had paid any ransom.
“We are not discussing any of the details of our interaction with the threat actor, including this subject, but that subject is fully shared with the NCA,” he said.
It is estimated that the cyber attack will cost M&S up to £300m this year.
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Days after M&S was attacked, the Co-op was targeted and forced to shut down some internal systems.
Harrods was then hacked, and also had to shut some systems despite its website and shops continuing to operate.
Of those arrested, a 17-year-old British male and a 19-year-old Latvian male were from the West Midlands.
A 19-year-old man was from London and a 20-year-old woman from Staffordshire.
Royal Mail is to be allowed to scrap Saturday second-class stamp deliveries, under a series of reforms proposed by the communications regulator.
From 28 July, Royal Mail will also be allowed to deliver second-class letters on alternate weekdays, Ofcom said.
The post will still be delivered within three working days of collection from Monday to Friday.
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The proposals had already been raised by Ofcom after a consultation was announced in 2024, and the scale back was proposed early this year.
Royal Mail had repeatedly failed to meet the so-called universal service obligation to deliver post within set periods of time.
Those delivery targets are now being revised downwards.
Rather than having to have 93% of first-class mail delivered the next day, 90% will be legally allowed.
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The target for second-class mail deliveries will be lowered from 98.5% to arrive within three working days to 95%.
A review of stamp prices has also been announced by Ofcom amid concerns over affordability, with a consultation set to be launched next year.
It’s good news for Royal Mail and its new owner, the Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky. Ofcom estimates the changes will bring savings of between £250m and £425m.
A welcome change?
Unsurprisingly, the company welcomed the announcement.
“It is good news for customers across the UK as it supports the delivery of a reliable, efficient and financially sustainable universal service,” said Martin Seidenberg, the group chief executive of Royal Mail’s parent company, International Distribution Services.
“It follows extensive consultation with thousands of people and businesses to ensure that the postal service better reflects their needs and the realities of how customers send and receive mail today.”
Citizens Advice, however, doubted whether services would improve as a result of the changes.
“Today, Ofcom missed a major opportunity to bring about meaningful change,” said Tom MacInnes, the director of policy at Citizens Advice.
“Pushing ahead with plans to slash services and relax delivery targets in the name of savings won’t automatically make letter deliveries more reliable or improve standards.”
Acknowledging long delays “where letters have taken weeks to arrive”, Ofcom said it set Royal Mail new enforceable targets so 99% of mail has to be delivered no more than two days late.
Changing habits
Less than a third of letters are sent now than 20 years ago, and it is forecast to fall to about a fifth of the letters previously sent.
According to Ofcom research, people want reliability and affordability more than speedy delivery.
Royal Mail has been loss-making in recent years as revenues fell.
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In response to Ofcom’s changes, a government spokesperson said: “The public expects a well-run postal service, with letters arriving on time across the country without it costing the earth. With the way people use postal services having changed, it’s right the regulator has looked at this.
“We now need Royal Mail to work with unions and posties to deliver a service that people expect, and this includes maintaining the principle of one price to send a letter anywhere in the UK”.
Ofcom said it has told Royal Mail to hold regular meetings with consumer bodies and industry groups to hear their experiences implementing the changes.
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