All 166 passengers were offloaded from a Ryanair plane after a number of travellers became disruptive in a row over outsize baggage fees, it was revealed today.
The offloading at Lanzarote airport in the Canary Islands was made at the request of Spanish police, Ryanair said.
The budget carrier added that a group of 100 passengers had “become disruptive, and refused to comply with crew instructions after a number of their group were required to pay a gate bag fee for outsized luggage”.
Ryanair said police had required that all passengers on the flight to Charleroi near Brussels in Belgium be taken off the aircraft and be identified.
The no-frills airline went on: “Following further disruptive behaviour, the police required for security reasons that this entire group (of 100) be refused travel.”
The remaining 66 passengers suffered a three-hour delay before the plane took off for Charleroi on Saturday.
Apologising for the delay today, Ryanair said its handling agent in Lanzarote was re-accommodating some of the disruptive group on later flights to Charleroi but added that any individuals who engaged in disruptive behaviour or refused to follow crew instructions would not be allowed to fly.