Recent weeks have seen storms causing delays for flights to and from airports in the Balearics, but weather was not the cause of all recent disruptions. On Thursday, a flight scheduled to depart from Madrid to Ibiza at 22:15 was delayed by two hours after an intoxicated passenger caused disturbances prior to takeoff.
An anonymous passenger reported the incident, stating "We were boarding and already saw the young man making a scene, talking loudly on the phone, shouting, and everyone was watching him." Despite instructions from the cabin crew to turn off phones as boarding concluded, the man continued to use his mobile.
"He kept using his phone, and then they reprimanded him. The plane had to stop, attendants approached him, he took off his seatbelt, until a fellow passenger told him enough was enough," the witness recalled. This exchange led to an argument between the two, after which the man began banging on seats and shouting, disturbing other travellers including children. "It was chaotic," the source added.
The situation escalated to the point where the aircraft had to reverse on the runway, requiring officers from the Guardia Civil to remove the individual from the plane. As a result, the flight was delayed by around two hours, with the incident directly attributed to the passenger's intoxicated behaviour.