Ryanair said it transported 101.4m passengers in 2015, becoming “the first airline to reach this international traffic landmark.” Ryanair also announced it will open its 77th base at Belfast International Airport in March, with one based aircraft and a 28X-weekly service to London Gatwick. The Irish LCC said the base will grow to three aircraft and five more new routes from October 2016, which will deliver more than one million new passengers per year and support 750 on-site jobs at Belfast International Airport. The Gatwick slots, which were given up by Aer Lingus as part of the IAG takeover, are being safeguarded and used for the new route to Belfast, Northern Ireland.<br/>
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The FBI says a rowdy passenger on a flight from New York to Chicago was restrained with a belt, necktie and apron after demanding to get off the plane. United Flight 3461, operated by Shuttle America, was diverted to Detroit Metropolitan Airport and landed about 8 p.m. Thursday. Twenty-two-year-old Breanna Farquharson of Mount Vernon, New York, was charged with assaulting a crew member. Her court hearing was postponed Friday. A woman who answered the phone at a home where Farquharson is listed as living declined to comment. In a court filing, the FBI says Farquharson scratched a flight attendant’s lip and pulled a necklace and employee badge off her after “frantically” requesting to get off the plane, 30 minutes into the flight. The plane with 69 passengers and four crew members arrived in Chicago about an hour late.<br/>