Furious Brit delays Ryanair flight for an hour after his wife is prevented from joining him on overbooked jet - before he is fined £2,500 over the disruption

By IMOGEN GARFINKEL - SENIOR FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER Published: 15:54, 17 August 2026 | Updated: 16:51, 17 August 2026 A furious British man delayed a Ryanair flight for an hour after his wife was prevented from joining him on an overbooked flight.  The disgruntled passenger was fined 3,000 euros (£2,500), after his angry outburst prevented other travellers from boarding and delayed the flight from Treviso, Italy, to Paris last Thursday. The chaos began when the man took his place in his seat and realised after some time that his wife had been prevented from boarding due to overbooking. The police were called and forced to intervene to calm him down.  The drama unfolded after Ryanair sold more tickets than there were seats available, causing a so-called overbooking.  When this happens, the airline guarantees passengers a place on the next available flight to the same destination, or, if an overnight stay is necessary, a night in a hotel with a flight back the following day.  However, this solution was deemed unacceptable to the man, who expressed his anger to the flight's crew. It was the police who eventually convinced the man to stay on board, with his wife joining him the next day in Paris.  A furious British man delayed a Ryanair flight for an hour after his wife was prevented from joining him on an overbooked flight at Treviso airport In a separate incident in June a Ryanair flight heading to the UK from Greece took off without dozens of its passengers on board due to 'mega queues' at passport control. Authorities at Athens international airport were forced to step in after 20 to 50 passengers booked onto the flight to Luton were left stranded. Ryanair blamed border delays for the chaos, while the airport said it had been experiencing congestion linked to the introduction of the EU's Entry Exit System (EES). The new requirements, which came into effect on April 10, mean British passengers must register biometric details such as fingerprints and facial recognition images when entering the Schengen Area. Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary warned passengers in July that the airline 'will not wait for anybody' caught up in lengthy Entry/Exit System (EES) queues, insisting flights will depart without those who fail to reach the gate on time.