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  "path": "/2026/05/07/wetherspoon-boss-hits-ryanairs-proposal-cut-drinking-airports-28277353/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-07T19:04:42.000Z",
  "site": "https://metro.co.uk",
  "tags": [
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    "Flights",
    "Ryanair",
    "Wetherspoon",
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  "textContent": "To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvideo\n\nUp Next\n\nPrevious Page\n\nNext Page\n\nWetherspoon’s boss has responded after Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said airports should have a two-drink limit.\n\nO’Leary, who is known for his controversial hot takes, raised some eyebrows after he proposed that travel hubs should be banned from serving alcohol before early morning flights.\n\nEarly drinking and ensuing bad behaviour was becoming a ‘real challenge’ for all airlines, not just Ryanair, he suggested in an interview with The Times.\n\nNow JD Wetherspoon’s chief, Sir Tim Martin, has chimed in on the debate, saying that a drink limit would be impossible to implement.\n\nAirport venues like pubs can serve alcohol at any time of the day and night (Picture: Bloomberg via Getty Images)\n\n##  Sign up for all of the latest stories\n\nStart your day informed with Metro's **News Updates** newsletter or get **Breaking News** alerts the moment it happens.\n\nHe claimed that a two-drink limit at airports would require passengers to be breathalysed.\n\nSir Tim Martin said it had ‘never been suggested’ its customers cause disruption on flights.\n\nSir Tim told The Times: ‘A two-drink limit would be extraordinarily difficult to implement, short of breathalysing passengers, and would, in our opinion, be an overreaction – especially since many of the problems stem from incoming flights.’\n\nHe added: ‘It is in everyone’s interests to have good behaviour at airports and on flights.’\n\nWetherspoon insisted that pubs in airports were ‘highly supervised’ with strict policies to prevent binge drinking.\n\nTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvideo\n\nUp Next\n\nPrevious Page\n\nNext Page\n\nAirside bars in the UK are not required to follow restrictions on opening hours which apply to other venues selling alcohol.\n\nUnruly and drunk passengers causing disruption on planes face tough punishments.\n\nBeing drunk on a plane is a criminal offence in the UK and can be punished by a fine of up to £5,000 and two years’ imprisonment.\n\nA court in France found two passengers guilty of causing disruption on board a flight from from Stansted to Ibiza that was diverted to Toulouse in May last year, a decision Ryanair welcomed.\n\nThe pair received a combined penalty of more than 10,000 euros (£8,640) and received suspended prison sentences of up to 10 months, according to the airline.\n\nIn January last year, Ryanair announced it had started taking legal action to recover losses against disruptive passengers when they force a flight to be diverted.\n\nIt said it filed legal proceedings against a passenger in Ireland to seek 15,000 euros (£12,500) in damages related to a flight from Dublin to Lanzarote.\n\n******Get in touch with our news team by emailing us atwebnews@metro.co.uk.******\n\n**For more stories like this,** check our news page.\n\nComment now Comments \nAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source\n",
  "title": "Wetherspoon boss hits out at Ryanair’s proposal to cut drinking at airports"
}