Ryanair is urging a two drink limit be imposed by European airports to crack down on unruly passengers on flights.
The call came as the budget carrier broke down the costs of a €15,000 diversion of a Dublin-Lanzarote flight to Porto last April due to a disruptive traveller.
More than 160 passengers and six crew were forced to stay overnight at Porto airport before flying onwards to Lanzarote on the following day.
The airline also had to provide an additional aircraft and crew to operate the delayed return flight from Lanzarote to Dublin.
The highest cost of €7,000 was to provide overnight accommodation and meals to passengers and crew in addition to €2,500 airport landing and handling fees, €1,800 in replacement crew costs €2,500 in Portuguese legal fees, €800 in excess fuel and €750 in lost in-flight sales.
Ryanair last week filed legal proceedings to claim €15,000 in damages against the passenger in the Irish Circuit Court in Dublin.
A spokesperson said: “None of these costs would have been incurred if this disruptive passenger had not forced a diversion to Porto in order to protect the safety of the aircraft, 160 passengers and six crew members on board.
“European governments repeatedly fail to take action when disruptive passengers threaten aircraft safety and force them to divert.
“In this case, the Portuguese prosecution ruled that because the aircraft and the passenger are Irish, this case should be transferred to Ireland.
“Ryanair is therefore taking a civil proceeding against this passenger in the Irish courts to recover these costs.”
They added: “It is time that EU authorities take action to limit the sale of alcohol at airports.
“Airlines, like Ryanair, already restrict and limit the sale of alcohol on board our aircraft, particularly in disruptive passenger cases.
“However, during flight delays, passengers are consuming excess alcohol at airports without any limit on purchase or consumption.
“We fail to understand why passengers at airports are not limited to two alcoholic drinks – using their boarding pass in exactly the same way they limit duty free sales – as this would result in safer and better passenger behaviour on board aircraft, and a safer travel experience for passengers and crews all over Europe.”