Also distributed in Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote.
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THE INDEPENDENT ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER WITH LOCAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL NEWS
EDITION 626
FRIDAY 17th MAY TO THURSDAY 30th MAY 2019 MOVIES AT ...
EATING OUT & ABOUT
PAGES PA 25 - 27
Your dining experience aroundd our o restaurants
FORTNIGHTLY SUPPLEMENT NT
property
PAGES 39 -48
guide
LIFETIME BAN CALL AFTER FRIGHTENING INCIDENTS ON FLIGHTS Alcohol debate reopens
T
WO frightening incidents on board planes travelling between the UK and the Canaries has reopened debate about the consumption of alcohol both before and during flights. Regular holidaymakers have once again taken to the social networks to complain about bad behaviour caused by excess drinking and say: “Something has to be done once and for all.” National newspapers in the UK have been reporting on one recent incident which left passengers terrified for their lives when a British man went beserk, threatened to kill everyone on board, took a fire extinguisher off a side panel and even tried to open one of the doors mid-air. A 27-year-old woman on board the Ryanair plane from Manchester to Gran Canaria later told the Mail online: “‘I could hear this guy at the front of the plane shouting and screaming things at other passengers.” ‘He came to the front of the plane and started throwing cups all over the floor of the plane. He took the fire extinguisher off the wall and threatened to hit the female member of cabin crew with it. He bit my sister on the arm and he was about to bite me on the leg before a man and a woman came over and jumped on him. “Passengers and crew had to hold him down on the floor for about 45 minutes - it was awful. He was trying to open the door of the plane.” Video footage captured the scenes which led to the man’s arrest when the plane touched down in the Canaries. A spokesperson for Ryanair said: “The crew of this flight from Manchester to Gran
Canaria on May 4th requested police assistance upon landing after a passenger became disruptive mid-flight. The safety and comfort of our customers, crew and aircraft is our number one priority.” ‘This passenger has been banned from flying with Ryanair again and this is now a matter for local police.’ Another incident allegedly took place on another Ryanair plane which was flying to Manchester from Tenerife although the airline has yet to comment or give any confirmation. A passenger on board the flight claims a woman was “insulted and physically harassed by a drunk” during the journey. She tweeted: “It was horrible to witness it.” The allegations are being reported in the Spanish press but there is no indication whether the man and woman said to be involved were together or not known to one another. The woman who tweeted details of the alleged incident said the man was drunk and rowdy and left his seat despite the “seat belt on” warning light being lit up. She says she doesn’t think the Ryanair crew realised what was happening or didn’t do anything to help and understands the woman involved intends to make a formal complaint. The airline responded to her Twitter comments and asked her to make contact with them privately “if she needs assistance.”
Ryanair was contacted for an official press comment. The serving of alcohol before and during flights - or perhaps more specifically, too much of it - has long been a bone of contention. Holidaymakers who took to Twitter and Facebook in their thousands to comment on the Gran Canaria incident said tougher sentences were needed, including prison, lifetime bans by ALL the airlines and withdrawal of passports. “People should be checked before going on a flight. If they are drunk, they should not be allowed on and stop selling so much alcohol onboard!” said one. Another commented: “Ban them for life, end of!” whilst another tweeted: “Airlines are far more interested in selling their overpriced alcohol onboard than worrying about the passengers safety.” Other postings included: “It is so dangerous behaving like
that on a flight so the offence should carry an automatic prison sentence”, “Why can’t all British based airlines agree
to collectively ban everyone who behaves like this for life?” and “Write to your MP’s. He will only get a slap on the wrist
unless we tell the government that we want proper deterrents in place for crime and not rewards.”
Should Canaries have a tourist tax?
H
OTELIERS in Tenerife say more investment is needed in the tourism industry and are asking politicians to give it the recognition it deserves.
Candidates standing in the May 26th elections were told that tourism is the main economy of the Canaries, accounting for 35 per cent of money brought in and 40 per cent of employment. But the hotel employers’ association, Ashotel says not enough money is being allocated in the budgets, both for tourism promotion in general and improvements of the tourism infrastructure. All the candidates agreed to support an initiative of Ashotel related to the promotion of a sustainable energy infrastructure (photovoltaic plant), which allows hotel facilities to reduce their carbon footprint, be more competitive and make the tourist destination a pioneer in sustainability. Views were split, however, on whether the Canary Islands should or should not introduce a tourist tax, as in the Balearics, which works out at between one and four euros per night per adult.