The plane was reportedly met on the tarmac by Portuguese police after the flight was forced to divert to northern Portugal on Sunday morning, delaying its arrival in Gibraltar by an hour and half.
Due to the domino effect, the outgoing Gibraltar to Manchester flight was also delayed by two hours because of the incident.
The man was reportedly escorted off the plane by police, but is not believed to have been arrested, although a statement from the airline addressing the incident suggested he could still face prosecution. Two friends flying with the man are also said to have voluntarily disembarked the aircraft in Porto.
Passengers on board the flight told the local Gibraltar broadcasting corporation GBC that the man had been “drunk” and “rowdy” and “verbally abused” flight staff.
An easyJet spokesperson has confirmed the diversion and stressed the airline “will not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour”.
“EasyJet can confirm that flight EZY1963 from Manchester to Gibraltar diverted to Porto on 19 August due to a passenger onboard behaving disruptively. The safety and welfare of our passengers and crew is easyJet’s highest priority”, the spokesperson stated, adding: “easyJet’s crew are trained to assess and evaluate all incidents.
Taking a hard-line approach to drunkenness and aggressive behaviour on flights, the airline emphasised: “Whilst such incidents are rare, we take them very seriously and do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour onboard and always push for prosecution”.
The airline also apologised for any inconvenience to passengers, and for the delay.