Irish airlines have expressed interest in a new insurance policy providing cover against "air rage" which was introduced yesterday by a branch of the British insurer, Lloyd's.
The policy, believed to be the first of its kind, covers the cost of diverting a flight to eject an unruly passenger, as well as any injuries to crew or other passengers.
Introduced by Brockbank Syndicate Management, a Lloyd's management agency, with brokers Aon Group, the initiative comes after an international report showing a 400 per cent increase in "air rage" incidents since 1995.
A spokeswoman for Ryanair said: "Anything which would help the safety and comfort of passengers should be welcomed," but the company could not say if the insurance cover would be suitable until it was studied.
"The majority of our flights are less than an hour, and these problems tend to arise with longer-haul flights, so it might not fit our demands. The best way forward we have found so far is constant training and retraining so that our staff can deal with any problems that arise."
She said the company had never had to redirect a flight because of a disruptive passenger.
A spokeswoman for Aer Lingus said it appeared to be "a great idea", particularly the offer to indemnify airlines for diversion costs. Other costs such as those for flight delays were already covered by insurance policies..
"We will be looking at it in light of our commercial operations and will have to see exactly what is involved, how much it costs, and what sort of cover is provided."
She added that Aer Lingus had never had to eject a passenger or divert a flight, except for medical emergencies.
"We had five million passengers last year and very few of them would have been troublesome. We take a very firm line with any trouble. Our staff are highly trained to deal with these things and if anyone is found to be drunk or disorderly they won't be allowed onto the plane."
The initiative follows a report published by the International Air Transport Association last month showing the number of "air rage" incidents had increased to about 2,000 a year.
It also follows the diversion of an Airtours flight to Norfolk, Virginia, last month, to put off a group of Travellers of Irish descent due to the disorderly behaviour of some of them.
