Ryanair is cracking down on unruly passengers by imposing a hefty £500 fine for those booted off flights due to bad behaviour. The airline has declared this to be just the "minimum" punishment and will pursue passengers for further civil damages.

A Ryanair spokesperson said: "It is unacceptable that passengers are made to suffer unnecessary disruption because of one unruly passenger's behaviour."

They added: "To help ensure that our passengers and crew travel in a comfortable and stress-free environment, without unnecessary disruption caused by a tiny number of unruly passengers, we have introduced a £500 fine, which will be issued to any passengers offloaded from aircraft as a result of their misconduct."

Ryanair has repeatedly called for a limit of two alcoholic drinks per passenger to be introduced at airport bars in response to an increase in disorder on flights.

It claims this would result in “a safer travel experience for passengers and crews”.

Passengers causing disruption during flights can cause aircraft to be diverted, which often costs the airline thousands of pounds.

Ryanair announced in January it had started taking legal action to recover losses from disruptive passengers, as part of what it described as a “major misconduct clampdown”.

It said it filed civil legal proceedings against a passenger in Ireland to seek 15,000 euros (£12,600) in damages related to a flight from Dublin to Lanzarote which diverted to Porto in April last year.

Ryanair contends the passenger’s behaviour caused the diversion.

It said the 15,000 euros consists of costs such as overnight accommodation for the more than 160 passengers and six crew members (7,000 euros or £5,900), Porto airport landing and handling fees (2,500 euros or £2,100) and Portuguese legal fees (2,500 euros or £2,100).