Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin hits back at Ryanair after Michael O'Leary's alcohol attack

The boss of JD Wetherspoons has hit back at the Ryanair CEO's claims alcohol shouldn't be served at UK airports in the early hours of the morning. Tim Martin , who founded his pub chain in 1979, said M ichael O'Leary's suggestion would require passengers being breathalysed at airports. He described the plan as "an overreaction". But Mr O'Leary, boss of the budget airline, had claimed an average of nearly one flight every day is diverted due to disruptive passengers fuelled by booze . The 65-year-old businessman said these tourists often drink in bars at airports for hours before they board their planes, and called on a ban on serving booze at airport bars in the early hours of the morning and a two-drink limit thereafter. Mr Martin, though, has said: "A two-drink limit would be extraordinarily difficult to implement, short of breathalysing passengers, and would, in our opinion, be an overreaction — especially since many of the problems stem from incoming flights. It is in everyone’s interests to have good behaviour at airports and on flights." Mr Martin, 71, also told The Times it had "never been suggested" its customers cause disruption on flights. JD Wetherspoon told the newspaper that pubs in airports were "highly supervised" with strict policies preventing excessive alcohol consumption. Airside bars in the UK are not required to follow restrictions on opening hours which apply to other venues selling alcohol. Being drunk on a plane is a criminal offence in the UK and can be punished by a fine of up to £5,000 and two years' imprisonment. But alcohol can be served on flights, including those of Ryanair, and there have been no calls on this practice. This, coupled with alcohol consumption at airports, has led to a number of incidents of disruption recently. A man was, for instance, jailed for becoming abusive, causing widespread alarm throughout the Ryanair aircraft on which he was travelling from Poland to Bristol. And, on Thursday, Ryanair welcomed the decision by a court in France which it said found two passengers guilty of causing disruption onboard a flight from Stansted to Ibiza that was diverted to Toulouse in May last year. The pair received a combined penalty of more than 10,000 euros (£8,640) and received suspended prison sentences of up to 10 months, according to the airline. Speaking earlier this week, Mr O'Leary shared his plans. The father of four had said: "I fail to understand why anybody in airport bars is serving people at five or six o'clock in the morning. Who needs to be drinking beer at that time? There should be no alcohol served at airports outside [those] licensing hours."