Thursday, April 18, 2024
1MP slams airline after drunken louts delay flight to Ibiza

MP slams airline after drunken louts delay flight to Ibiza

By Christine Lavelle

A GROUP of boozy lads on their way to Ibiza for a stag holiday caused havoc at Glasgow Airport when their behaviour caused the flight to be grounded for several hours.

Holidaymakers on board the 5.40pm easyJet flight to the sunshine island were left reeling on Saturday as police were called to deal with the ‘paralytic’ party.

Hundreds of passengers were held up when their flight was forced to return to the terminal from the runway, when members of the 15-strong group refused to sit down for take-off.

Police officers then entered the plane and removed two of the louts, who were said to have been behaving aggressively – but neither was arrested.

Michael McCann, MP for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, was amongst the angry passengers and has vowed to complain to Strathclyde Police, BAA, and easyJet about the incident.

He said the airline and police should have taken tougher action on the drunks who ruined travel plans for innocent members of the public.

Mr McCann, who was traveling with his wife Tracy and their two children, said: “The stag party was in full swing when I arrived at the airport at 4pm and by the time we were due to take off several of the party were paralytic.

“It was a disgrace that they were allowed on the tarmac never mind on the plane.

“As a result hundreds of other passengers were delayed.

“Glasgow Airport, easyJet and the police should never have let them board the plane.

“I’ll be writing to the chief constable, the airline and BAA to determine how we can stop this happening.

“Everyone is entitled to relax with a drink before they go on holiday, but drunken, loutish behaviour has to be stopped.”

As bags had to be removed and flight plans rearranged, the plane was delayed for several hours.

A spokesman from Strathclyde Police said: “At around 7pm we received a report about a disturbance on a flight waiting to depart Glasgow Airport.

“Police attended and two males disembarked, although they were not arrested, and the matter is being dealt with in that way.”

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