Jet2 has said it will pursue a disruptive passenger for the “five-figure” costs of diverting a flight from Glasgow to Shannon Airport in order for him to be arrested after he allegedly attacked crew and other passengers.
The airline said the 20-year-old man acted in a “deplorable and violent fashion” on the Glasgow to Tenerife flight on Wednesday, as it confirmed it had also banned him for life.
Jet2 said the passenger began to show “disruptive and aggressive behaviour” shortly after take-off, with his behaviour escalating to the point that the flight was diverted to allow Garda officers to offload and arrest him.
It added it would “vigorously pursue” the passenger “for the recovery of all costs incurred by this diversion, which will be a five-figure sum”.
The remaining passengers on the flight were taken to Tenerife on a replacement aircraft.
Managing director Phil Ward said: “This is one of the worst cases of disruptive passenger behaviour that we have ever witnessed, and we would like to apologise to all colleagues and customers onboard for what they had to experience.
“It is a disgrace that hardworking customers, families and colleagues should be subjected to such appalling behaviour.”
Ward thanked customers and colleagues who helped deal with the situation onboard and said the event should “act as a stark warning to anyone who thinks that it might be acceptable to behave in such an unacceptable manner onboard one of our flights”.