DAA Chief Executive Kenny Jacobs has decribed Michael O’Leary’s call for a two-drink limit for passengers at airports as unnecessary, and recalls that most disruptive passengers arrive intoxicated rather than becoming inebriated at the airport.
Last year, about 100 individuals were arrested at Dublin and Cork airports for drunk and disorderly conduct, highlighting ongoing issues with passenger behavior.
Jacobs notes that the average airport user consumes less than half a pint and suggests that drunk passenger concerns are more pertinent to UK and certain European airports than to Ireland.
Dublin Airport, which handled 33.3m passengers in the previous year, focuses on effective policing at check-in points to address alcohol-related disruptions before passengers reach security.
Kenny Jacobs shared “the average person who uses Dublin or Cork Airport who does go to a bar consumes less than half a pint. They’re not getting tanked up at Dublin Airport getting on aircraft. Drinks in Ireland are expensive. I know more people who are saying, ‘keep your money for buying a beer in Spain that costs you a third of the price’.
I think it’s a matter more for UK airports and certain European airports than being an Irish matter. I don’t think a pan-European two-drink limit is something that’s going to change things in Ireland. We’ve got a very good relationship between airport police and An Garda Síochána. We stop and arrest more passengers for being drunk and disorderly at check-in than we do in the terminals [once they are through security.”
