A plane passenger claiming to be a United Nations diplomat was dragged out of a flight to Spain after throwing a tantrum and demanding a front-row seat, according to local media.
Video from inside the Ryanair plane shows the irate man, who was not immediately identified, arguing with flight attendants and security guards aboard ahead of the flight from Arrecife airport in Lanzarote to mainland Spain, the Canarian Weekly reports.
The passenger claimed to be a UN diplomat while demanding a different seat — but then refused to cooperate with the crew or show his boarding pass, the outlet said.
The pilot finally called on the Civil Guard to forcibly remove the enraged passenger — who then wrestled the four officers who tried to drag him out, the footage shows.
“I paid to travel and sit in my seat and you people come here, and that’s what’s not right!” the man could be heard shouting at the police and airline staffers in Spanish. “And I will not accept it!”
As the man wrestled with the officers, a woman could be heard yelling for them to resolve things quickly because there were children nearby.
Ryanair said the “disruptive” passenger was successfully removed from the flight, which carried on to its route to Santiago nearly an hour behind schedule. It was not confirmed if he actually worked for the UN.
“Ryanair is committed to ensuring that all passengers and crew travel in a safe and respectful environment, without unnecessary disruption caused by a tiny number of unruly passengers,” the airline said in a statement.
The Irish airliner maintains a strict zero-tolerance policy against unruly passengers. It stepped up its campaign against the problem earlier this year when it announced it was suing a passenger for more than $15,000 after a flight from Dublin to Lanzarote was forced to divert to Portugal and be delayed overnight.
A Ryanair spokesperson accused European governments of failing to take action “when disruptive passengers threaten aircraft safety and force them to divert,” forcing the company to take matters into their own hands by threatening legal consequences against those passengers.
The company also renewed calls for airport bars in the European Union to limit the number of drinks they serve to passengers to two drinks.
