The number of incidents involving difficult and unruly passengers on commercial flights operated by airlines certified by the Irish Aviation Authority more than trebled last year to over 1,400.
The IAA’s latest annual safety performance review reveals a total of 1,432 “events” during 2024 involving a difficult or unruly passenger compared to 426 in 2023 – an increase of 226% over a 12-month period.
The figures show that troublesome passengers were the second most common source of potential safety incidents reported to the IAA last year after bird strikes over which 1,650 events were recorded.
However, the review also shows that the overwhelming majority of incidents involving difficult and unruly passengers were assigned the lowest safety risk classification.
The IAA said security was the third most reported type of category in 2024 compared to being ranked 11th over the period 2019-2023 which the trend linked to an increase in issues related to disruptive passengers.
Commenting on the trend, the IAA said it continued “to reaffirm its commitment to the industry on this issue by regularly engaging with and supporting stakeholders who have signed up to the industry’s Joint Declaration on Unruly Passenger Behaviour.”
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary called last year for airline passengers to be restricted to two alcoholic drinks at airports due to concerns about the growing problem of unruly passengers on flights.
Mr O’Leary claimed violent outbursts had become weekly occurrences with cabin crew and other travellers being targeted by drunken passengers.
The Ryanair boss said he would be prepared to introduce a two-drink limit on his aircraft if the same rule was applied at airport bars.
The IAA also noted that air traffic management (ATM) was the fourth most reported category last year compared to being 12th over the previous five-year period.
The regulatory body said the increase in ATM events might be explained by a high number of cases of interference with GPS signals and loss and GPS system losses.
A total of 558 events classified as interference with a GPS signal were logged last year as well as 340 incidents of GPS system loss.
The most common category of incidents involving commercial aircraft during 2024 was component failure or malfunction (2,074) followed by issues with birds (1,707).
The latest safety performance review also shows there were 243 incidents of smoking in the cabin or toilet last year.
The number of incidents involving interference with aircraft by lasers was virtually unchanged at 180 – with most events classified as a “medium” safety risk.
However, there were also 260 cases of interference “by other activity”, which includes drones.
A total of 145 incidents of medical issues or incapacitation involving cabin crew were recorded, while pilots reported 209 “fatigue” events.
The IAA reported 81 incidents of aircraft being struck by lightning last year – with most cases assigned a medium safety risk classification.
Airlines also recorded 143 incidents of damage to aircraft, although the vast majority of cases were regarded as minor damage.
The latest figures show there was one non-fatal accident involving Irish aircraft reported to the IAA last year which involved a passenger fall from an airstairs, as well as 10 serious incidents.
It was the lowest number of accidents over the past five years but also the highest number of serious incidents.
Over a five-year period, the most common sources of accident and serious incidents have been ground handling cases (nine); near misses or loss of separation between aircraft (seven) and component failure or malfunction (seven).
The IAA said the chances of being on a flight operated by an IAA-certified airline that experienced a safety occurrence remained “very low.”
The annual safety performance review showed the IAA received 13,439 occurrence reports in 2024 in relation to over 756,000 flights operated by approved carriers – an increase of 6% on the previous year.
“This means that just over 98% of these flights passed off without any safety occurrences that required reporting to the IAA and just over 99.99% of these flights passed off without being involved in an accident or serious incident,” the IAA said.
It also claimed there was a new threat of drone operations to consider which was especially important for low level helicopter operations.
The IAA recorded just over 100 reports in relation to drone operations in 2024 including one non-fatal accident which was categorised as “lost of control – inflight.”
In relation to air traffic management and air navigation services, the IAA noted that the incidence of issues relating to aircraft deviations on the ground remained high at 61 per 100,000 aircraft movements.
It also observed that airborne deviations were at an all-time high in 2024 at 61 per 100,000 movements, while there was also an increase in the rate of runway incursions to 7.8 per 100,000 movements.
IAA chief executive Declan Fitzpatrick said the number of accidents in commercial air transport increased globally last year, although the long-term trend still showed a significant reduction in accident rates over the past two decades.
Mr Fitzpatrick said threats facing the aviation industry included disrupted air routes, uncertainty in international markets, climate change concerns, interference with satellite navigation systems and cybersecurity attacks.
He claimed the IAA’s latest safety performance review highlighted the need for continuous vigilance and improvement in safety risk management processes at State and organisational level.
“The IAA continues to promote and encourage persons involved in any aspect of civil aviation to report safety concerns to their organisation or to the IAA,” he added.
