Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin clashes with Ryanair over airport breakfast booze
The boss of JD Wetherspoon has clashed with the chief of budget airline Rynair over calls for airports to crack down on early morning drinking.
Tim Martin, chair of the UK’s best-known pub chain, has said regulating alcohol consumption at airports is a “Big Brother” approach which could lead to passengers being breathalysed.
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary had called on airports to ban people from drinking pints before early-morning flights.
The budget airline tycoon claimed his airline is forced to make flight diversions almost daily because of the disorderly behaviour of drunken passengers.
Ryanair: Airports ‘profiteering’ off booze
O’Leary told the Times earlier this week: “It’s becoming a real challenge for all airlines. I fail to understand why anybody in airports bars is serving people at five or six o’clock in the morning.
“Who needs to be drinking beer at that time?”
The Ryanair chief executive accused airports of “profiteering” from disorderly behaviour which causes havoc for airlines and other passengers.
“The ones who are profiteering off it are the airports who have these bars open at five or six o’clock in the morning and during delays are quite happy to send these people as much alcohol as they want,” he said.
But the boss of Wetherspoon, which operates large pubs at popular UK airports including Heathrow and Gatwick, has hit back.
Any limit on drinking would be difficult to enforce, he said: “It is in everyone’s interests to have good behaviour at airports and on flights.
“[But] 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.”
Crackdown would be ‘draconian’
Wetherspoon claims food, soft drinks, tea and coffee accounts for two thirds of sales at its airport pubs, as the chain seeks to counter perceptions that it profits from drunken behaviour.
A “significant proportion” of the alcoholic drinks ordered in airports come with a meal, and imposing limits would push passengers to buy drinks at off-licences or supermarkets before their arrival, Wetherspoon said.
A leading pub trade body told CityAM they support airports’ bids to crack down on drunken behaviour.
A spokesperson for the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) said: “It is every business’ duty to serve alcohol responsibly, and it is airlines’ duty to ensure their passengers are fit to fly.
“The BBPA and its members are committed to promoting responsible drinking and participate in schemes to prevent and tackle anti-social behaviour, of which many airports already have in place.”
Shadow transport secretary Richard Holden said the proposals to limit drinking are “slightly draconian”.
“There is something peculiarly British about the tradition of having a pint at 6am when waiting for your Ryanair flight,” he said.
This is not the latest clash between Tim Martin and Michael O’Leary over airport pints, as the pair last came to blows on the issue in 2024.