Spoons are having none of it
The owner of Wetherspoons, Sir Tim Martin, has slammed Ryanair for calling to impose a two pint limit for customers at airports.
The Spoons boss firmly rejected calls from Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary who wants to crack down on antisocial behaviour and violence as well as tackle disorder on flights.
In response to these claims Sir Tim said that in recent years there had been “no complaints about our pubs from the airport authorities or airlines”.
Speaking to the Telegraph he said that airports with Wetherspoon pubs have stopped selling shots as well as “double up” offers.
The big boss of Britain’s largest pub chain turned the table on Ryanair and accused the airline of actually encouraging drinking on their flights.
“Ryanair, in contrast, offers a discount on Irish whiskey if a double is ordered,” he said.
Sir Tim also went on to say the majority of sales in airport Wetherspoons come from non-alcoholic sales.
He said only 33% of sales come from alcohol in these pubs while coffee, tea and soft drinks make up 25%.
The Ryanair CEO told the Telegraph that he didn’t wan to “begrudge people having a drink” but added: “We don’t allow people to drink-drive, yet we keep putting them up in aircraft at 33,000 feet.”
Ryanair say, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh are four of the most problematic airports for the airline.
Airport drinking has become a proud tradition for Brits heading abroad for a well-earned break.
Like casinos, time doesn’t exist as soon as you step through security control. The neon blue lights of the nearest Wetherspoons attract travellers like a moth to a flame, with hearty breakfasts merrily washed down with cold pints of lager and glasses of fizz as holiday anticipation hits fever-pitch.
But those who consider airport pints as being among the best pints you can drink may find that lax drinking rules could soon be curtailed if the calls of one airline boss are heeded.
Michael O’Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair, has put out a call for alcohol limits in airports to tackle a rise in disorder on flights.
The man who put Brits in a steel tin can for less than a tenner and put Europe on a plate says travellers heading to party destinations are becoming problematic once they board said mode of transport.
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He told The Daily Telegraph violent outbursts are occurring weekly with alcohol, especially when mixed with other substances.
“We don’t want to begrudge people having a drink. But we don’t allow people to drink-drive, yet we keep putting them up in aircraft at 33,000 feet,” he said, adding it was difficult for airlines to identify inebriated people at the gate, especially when boarding in a group.
“As long as they can stand up and shuffle they will get through. Then when the plane takes off we see the misbehaviour.”
O’Leary said crew members and other passengers have become targets with delays adding to the problem with longer drinking times at airports.
“In the old days, people who drank too much would eventually fall over or fall asleep. But now those passengers are also on tablets and powder,” he said.
“It’s the mix. You get much more aggressive behaviour that becomes very difficult to manage.”
Mr O’Leary said Ryanair staff search bags before passengers are allowed to board flights to Ibiza, one of the “party destinations” he says are worst affected which include some of the Greek islands.
Needless to say, his proposals certainly won’t be popular if they, ahem, take off.
