Ryanair passenger nearly arrested over Pringles, water

A dad on a Ryanair flight was threatened with arrest after trying to get free Pringles during a long delay. (iStock)

A dad clashed with Ryanair staff and was threatened with arrest over a packet of Pringles amid a four-hour delay.

Johnny McMenamin was set to leave Barcelona, Spain and return to County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, with his five-year-old daughter last Monday.

But the pair were left waiting for two hours at Reus Airport when their plane was delayed.

Once boarded, passengers were then left waiting on the plane for another two and a half hours.

McMenamin , 36, said he became worried when his daughter appeared "distressed and tired" and they had yet to take off.

He was shocked that passengers had to beg for water, but he became horrified when flight attendants would not give him free refreshments, given the long delay.

He told Belfast Live: "I couldn't believe they were trying to charge me for a snack for a child when we had been delayed for 4 hours 39 minutes.

"I asked for a bottle of water and Pringles for my daughter and they insisted I needed to pay £5.50 (about $7.10), which I refused out of principal."

McMenamin noted that a refreshment voucher handed out to passengers was intended for use in the departure lounge, but he expected crew to make an exception because of the delays.

The pilot later made two announcements claiming the passenger who was "stealing from the bar" would be met by police, so he finally paid for the items.

McMenamin is still horrified that the flight attendants would not give his daughter a free bottle of water and a pack of chips after the huge delay.

A Ryanair spokesman said the passenger had become disruptive shortly before takeoff and agreed to follow cabin crew instructions after being warned about his behaviour.

The spokesperson added: "This flight from Barcelona Reus to East Midlands (August 13) was regrettably delayed ahead of take-off due to ongoing ATC restrictions and ATC staff shortages across Europe.

"Customers were provided with refreshment vouchers and boarded the aircraft, but the flight was further delayed due to continued slot delays.

"The crew opened the bars and served refreshments, before the aircraft departed to East Midlands later that night. Ryanair sincerely apologized to customers affected by this delay.”

This article originally appeared on The Sun.