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Ryanair has praised a French court after it handed down suspended prison sentences and hefty fines to two unruly passengers who forced one of the carrier’s flights into a costly diversion. The incident occurred on a Ryanair flight from London to Ibiza in May 2025, prompting the flight crew to divert the aircraft to Toulouse-Blagnac Airport (TLS).
The Toulouse Criminal Court issued 10-month suspended sentences to both men and a collective fine of over $11,800 (€10,000). The financial penalty will help offset the significant operational costs of the unscheduled diversion, which typically runs into the tens of thousands of dollars. Ryanair has also confirmed that both individuals are now subject to a permanent, group-wide lifetime flight ban.
Ryanair Passengers Sentenced For Ibiza Flight Diversion
Legal action was taken against the duo after their behavior on board Flight FR9251 on May 17, 2025. This flight was from 
London Stansted Airport (STN) to Ibiza Airport (IBZ) and had 184 passengers onboard, along with six crew members. According to Ryanair, at some point during the flight, the two men became abusive towards fellow passengers and ignored instructions from the crew.
Their conduct became so disruptive that the flight crew decided to divert the plane to Toulouse, where it was met by French police. The duo were taken into custody by authorities, while more than 180 passengers would arrive in Ibiza at a significant delay due to their actions. Ryanair spokesperson Jade Kirwan said,
“It is unacceptable that passengers – many of whom are heading away with family or friends to enjoy a relaxing summer holiday – suffer unnecessary disruption and reduced holiday time as a result of unruly passenger behaviour. Yet this was regrettably the case for passengers on this flight from Stansted to Ibiza in May last year, which was forced to divert to Toulouse as a result of two passengers’ disruptive behavior.”
Ryanair Faces Nearly One Diversion A Day
Ryanair has seen a concerning rise in flight diversions due to disruptive behavior, which Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary says has reached a level of around one diversion per day. As The Guardian reported, O’Leary said this was a sharp increase on the carrier’s rate ten years ago of around one diversion per week.
This is consistent with industry data, which shows that unruly passenger cases have remained high, despite dipping below COVID pandemic levels. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) keeps track of incident rates, recording a slight increase from 2,076 reports in 2023 to 2,102 in 2024, before a 23% to 1,621 reports in 2025. According to the FAA, “airlines have seen rapid growth in occurrences since 2021,” with just 544 reports in 2017 – to put that into context, the worst month on record was March 2021, when the FAA received 720 complaints.
O’Leary also pinpointed early-morning bar service at airports as a clear driver of unruly behavior onboard flights, calling for a two-drink limit and more reasonable opening times. Alcohol was believed to be a factor during last year’s Ibiza flight incident, although O’Leary claims Ryanair has a policy of rarely serving passengers more than two drinks per flight.
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Change is needed.
Why Such A Big Fine?
In January 2025, Ryanair announced it would be aggressively pursuing civil lawsuits to recoup diversion costs. In a notable case against a passenger who diverted a flight from Dublin to Lanzarote in April 2024, the carrier sought $17,700 (€15,000) in damages and provided a breakdown of the costs of diverting a flight.
This includes additional fuel, accommodation for affected passengers, airport handling and landing fees, replacement crew costs, and lost in-flight sales. The fine for the Ibiza pair is in a similar bracket and will go toward covering the overheads of the airline’s unscheduled diversion.
Ryanair has also introduced a mandatory $590 (€500) fine for any passenger removed from a flight for disruptive behavior. Removing an unruly passenger before takeoff is a far better scenario for an airline, preventing a diversion and all the subsequent costs incurred.
