It could be bad news for the UK’s nervous flyers as the way alcohol is sold in airports is to be reviewed.
New aviation minister, Lord Ahmad has said he would like to examine the sale of booze in airports after a number of recent incidents involving drunk passengers, reports the BBC.
But don’t worry too much, Lord Ahmad said he didn’t want to ‘kill merriment’ but that he would ‘look at’ the times alcohol was on sale, and passenger screening. Phew.
Between March 2014 and March 2016, 442 people were held on suspicion of being drunk at an airport or on a plane in the UK.
In one recent case, a passenger is reported to have punched an Easyjet pilot in the face after being ordered off an aircraft in Manchester and in February, six men were arrested by German police after a mid-air brawl on a Ryanair flight from Luton to Bratislava.
WikipediaLord Ahmad said:
If you’re a young family travelling on a plane you don’t want to be disrupted.
I don’t think we want to kill merriment altogether, but I think it’s important that passengers who board planes are also responsible and have a responsibility to other passengers.
Representatives of both UK airlines and airports have responded, claiming drunken incidents are ‘very rare’ but had ‘serious consequences’ including a travel ban, fine, or prison sentence.
Jet2.com has just published a code of practice on disruptive passengers with their new ‘zero tolerance’ approach.
This includes advising passengers not to drink alcohol they have purchased before or during their flight, and training staff in bars and restaurants to limit the amount they serve to individual passengers.
Zero tolerance sounds a bit strong to be honest…
