Another incident involving a disruptive passenger on a flight to the Canaries has led to fresh calls to step up policing resources at Lanzarote Airport.
The call comes from the union representing officers serving in Spain’s Civil Guard, who say that an assault late last week was a further example of the violence which officers are subjected to when dealing with unruly passengers. The union described staffing levels at Lanzarote as “hopelessly inadequate” for an international airport which was used by almost nine million passengers in 2024.
The latest incident arose when a passenger on an afternoon Ryanair flight from Edinburgh last Friday assaulted officers after they were called, ahead of the flight’s arrival, to deal with several disruptive passengers who had been involved in a heated altercation on board. One of the officers suffered a broken finger and other injuries after being kicked and punched by a 36-year-old male passenger.
The passenger was eventually restrained and taken into custody before appearing for a speedy trial at an Arrecife court, which sentenced him to four months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered him to pay almost 10,000 euros to the injured officer.
According to the AUGC union, although three officers were on hand to respond to the incident, in some cases just one officer supported only by private security staff is sent to deal with onboard disturbances.
Last July, a Civil Guard officer was bitten by a drunk and disorderly passenger as they tried to remove him from a flight which was about to depart for Gatwick.
The union is demanding an increase in manning levels to deal with such incidents and wants officers to be equipped with tasers to help de-escalate situations swiftly and safely.
Photo credit: AUGC
