Ryanair flight U-turns after argument over switching seats

• A Ryanair flight turned around soon after takeoff after an argument escalated.
• One passenger told The Sun that a man had asked to switch seats to sit with his family. 
• The incident led to an overnight delay with passengers booked into hotels.

A Ryanair flight had to turn around after an argument broke out soon after takeoff.

The journey to London from Agadir, Morocco was only airborne for about half an hour before turning back to Marrakesh, per Flightradar24.

“We were only in the air for 36 minutes before we had to do an unexpected landing,” an unnamed passenger told The Sun.

“It was like the flight from hell,” they added. “And it all escalated from that one passenger wanting to change seats.”

The newspaper reported that a man asked another passenger to move so he could sit with his wife and young children. It added that the woman refused and the man started threatening her.

Video footage obtained by The Sun shows passengers shouting at each other while the cabin crew tries to calm them down. One man can be heard saying: “I will whack your jaw.”

Debates over whether a passenger should switch seats to accommodate a family are not unheard of, but they rarely escalate like this.

Unruly passenger incidents have reached new heights since the pandemic. Statistics from the Federal Aviation Administration show 2024 is set to continue a pattern of fewer incidents — but still more than 2020.

Another passenger fell ill during the flight, a Ryanair spokesperson said in a statement shared with Business Insider. Upon landing, airport medics determined they weren’t fit to fly, but they, “refused to disembark and became abusive towards crew.”

The statement added that it took two hours to get the disruptive passengers to deplane with the help of military police. As a result, the Ryanair crew reached their maximum working time and the flight had to be delayed until the following day — with passengers booked into hotels, the spokesperson said.

“We sincerely apologize to passengers for this diversion and subsequent delay caused by a small group of disruptive passengers, which was out of Ryanair’s control,” they added.