Ryanair bans eight passengers for smoking

EIGHT more people have been banned from Ryanair flights for smoking on board, engaging in disruptive behaviour and criminal damage.

This brings to 16 the number of people banned by the airline this year for endangering passenger and crew safety 13 of them for life.

Ryanair sent letters to eight people earlier in the week informing them of its decision. Five people were banned for life because they were caught smoking in the toilets.

Three passengers have been banned for one year for disruptive behaviour and criminal damage, which included damaging the tray tables, verbal abuse and being drunk and disorderly. These incidents occurred on eight separate flights over the last four months.

It follows quickly on eight lifetime bans issued in February by the airline to people who also tried to smoke on board.

Ryanair would not reveal any of their ages, sex or what flights they were on due to data protection issues. "If we could name and shame these people we would. But we are going as public as we can on this issue because we will not tolerate any behaviour that puts people's lives at risk," Ryanair head of communications Paul Fitzsimmons said.

"People are clearly still not getting the message; safety is Ryanair's top priority. We are low on fares but zero on tolerance of any behaviour which jeopardises the safety of our passengers and crew.

"There remains a tiny minority of passengers who stupidly and recklessly persist in endangering the safety of others. Ryanair will immediately ban anyone who compromises onboard safety and pass the offenders over to the police for prosecution," he said.

Mr Fitzsimmons said that to produce a naked flame in the toilets of an aircraft at 136,000 feet with other passengers on board was nothing short of reckless endangerment of lives.

He called on police in all jurisdictions to prosecute fully anyone who tries to smoke on board an airplane. The longest flight-time Ryanair has is two hours and 20 minutes, while the average flight is just 80 minutes.

Last year, Ryanair carried 23.5 million passengers and it hopes to carry 28 million people this year.

Aer Lingus said earlier this year that all its flights are non-smoking and that its crew are highly trained in safety and security issues, which includes ensuring the no-smoking policy is adhered to.

The airline would not say what sanctions a smoker faced, only that "the captain has the ultimate authority on a flight and would decide on the appropriate action in each situation".

The spokesperson could not say how many passengers if any had been banned from travelling on the airline.

The Irish Aviation Authority said there is no global ban on smoking in aircraft and that each airline decides its own policy on the issue and sanctions.