While some insist any ban on the traditional early morning airport pint would be draconian, others ask why anyone would want a beer for breakfast.

Now, two of the most successful businessmen in the British Isles are dividing the public over whether the 6am pre-flight pint ritual should end for good.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary has revealed flights are now having to be diverted almost daily due to drunken bad behaviour, suggesting airport alcohol sales should be outlawed in the mornings and a potential two-drink per person limit.

But Wetherspoon boss Sir Tim Martin hit back against the 'Big Brother' approach, saying banning the practice could see passengers being breathalysed before flying.

He argued that the pub chain - which has eight locations in UK airports - makes most of its money from food, soft drinks, tea and coffee sales rather than alcohol.

But Mr O'Leary insists a ban is necessary, claiming airport bars are 'profiteering' off drunken people on planes and 'exporting the problem' from pubs onto airlines.

And while Sir Tim did admit good behaviour at airports and on flights is in everyone's interests, he says implementing the suggestions would be difficult to manage.

The row has led to renewed debate over whether last orders should be called on the 'drink-before-you-fly' culture, which has grown in recent decades thanks to the rise of budget airlines and the likes of Wetherspoon opening huge venues in airports.

Stephen Wood, an aviation security expert at Leeds Beckett University, pointed out that Mr O'Leary's calls for the ban followed a rise in disruptive passengers on airlines.

He told the Daily Mail: 'Clearly we are seeing more of this behaviour, which seems to make its way onto social media. 

'With airlines seeking compensation for loss from passengers engaged in this behaviour, banning the early morning pint appears logical.

'I never could work out why passengers would want a pint for breakfast and I am sure those convicted of such offences deeply regret their actions later.'

Shadow transport secretary Richard Holden said Ryanair's customers would not back the ban, but the airline had a responsibility to stop drunk people getting on board.

He also told Sky News: 'I think there is something peculiarly British about the tradition of having a pint at sort of 6am when you're waiting for your Ryanair flight.

'And I think banning that is not necessarily the right answer - sounds slightly draconian. 

'And also, what about all those tiny little airports that Ryanair flies to across Europe which don't have all of those bars and other things? I think this is an attempt to grab headlines rather than deal with a serious problem.'

Others said they disagreed with UK rules that mean airside bars - those located past security in departure terminals - are generally exempt from traditional high-street licensing laws, meaning they can serve alcohol at irregular operating hours.

Etiquette expert Liz Brewer told GB News: 'I absolutely agree with this ban. I think what we need to do is bring it in line with our drinking laws. For some reason airports have a different rule.

'We're talking about risk here and it is the early morning flights that have been affected. I'm not saying ban it, you could limit it, but why can't we have it in line with our normal drinking laws, despite the fact people may be on different time schedules.'

Former Labour MP Stephen Pound said Mr O'Leary 'tries to squeeze every last dime out of you' and pointed out that he wants to sell alcohol to passengers on board.

He told GB News: 'Every time I'm on holiday, you have a little trouble going through security, you've got to get your bag, all that business. To actually get airside, you can sit and relax, your plane's coming, what do you do, you relax, you have a small, sweet sherry.'

It comes after Sir Tim told The Times: '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.'

In the last six months, two-thirds of Wetherspoon's takings were not from alcohol, Sir Tim said, adding that a 'significant portion' of alcoholic drinks were ordered with a meal.

He contended that imposing limits could turn passengers to buy their alcohol from supermarkets and off-licences before arriving at the airport.

Airport Wetherspoon pubs are 'highly supervised' and have policies to stop excessive drinking too, Sir Tim said.

It's passengers coming in from other airports where 'controls are perhaps less' which make the problem worse, Sir Tim said, adding that this was a view 'shared by Mr O'Leary'.

But Mr O'Leary 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?'

Mr O'Leary proposed airport bar licensing laws should be brought in line with external licensing in the hope of abating the problem.

He added that Ryanair is' reasonably responsible' with its drinks, rarely serving a passenger more than two beverages on board - unlike airport bars.

Ryanair and Wetherspoon pubs have clashed on this issue before, when in 2024 Mr O'Leary made the same call for a two-drink limit in airports.

Other airlines like Jet2 are lobbying for a national database to help ban disruptive passengers flying on UK airlines.

It is a criminal offence to be drunk on board an aircraft and anyone convicted faces up to two years in prison and a hefty fine.

Threatening and abusive passengers can be further prosecuted. If the flight has to be diverted, offenders can be ordered to pay large compensation fees and be charged in the country where the aircraft is forced to land.

There have been a huge number of incidents of drunken incidents on planes and the Ryanair boss says flights from Britain to Ibiza, Alicante and Tenerife are the worst for forced diversions.

On April 26, a rowdy Ryanair flight from Newcastle Airport to Ibiza descended into a mid-air party as dancing passengers ignored furious cabin crew.

Brandon Stephenson later said he received death threats after videos of the raucous flight went viral, racking up more than 250,000 views and 10,500 likes.

In another incident, a rowdy British stag party forced an easyJet flight to divert after they were seen vaping in their seats and abusing the cabin crew in May last year.

Six men were escorted off the plane in Faro, Portugal - hundreds of miles from their destination of Marrakech.

A further incident saw two drunken English passengers on a KLM flight from Amsterdam to Ibiza refuse to wear masks during the pandemic in August 2020.

A brawl broke out in mid-air, which ended with them being arrested by Spanish police when they landed.

While Wetherspoon has eight locations at UK airports, it opened its first pub in continental Europe in February in the airside area of departures at Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernandez Airport in Spain .

The chain will also open two new pubs in Barcelona over the coming year. The new pubs at Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport will open in the airside areas of Terminal 1 this September and the second at Terminal 2 next January.