Ryanair sues passenger for 15,000 euros for disrupting flight

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ryanair has filed legal proceedings against a passenger it says disrupted a flight and forced it to be diverted, and is seeking 15,000 euros ($15,500) in damages, the Irish airline said on Wednesday.

Ryanair said "inexcusable behaviour" by the passenger, on a flight from Dublin to the Spanish island of Lanzarote on April 9, forced the plane to divert to the Portuguese city of Porto where it was delayed overnight. Accommodation, passenger expenses, and landing costs totalled 15,000 euros, it said.

"We have now filed civil proceedings to recover these costs from this passenger," the airline said in a statement that did not name the passenger.

($1 = 0.9682 euros)

(Writing by Conor Humphries, Editing by Paul Sandle)