Passengers who drink too much at airports could be banned from boarding flights under new plans to combat the rising number of air rage incidents, according to a report.
The restrictions could include tighter limits on the number of drinks served at airport bars and during the flight, as well as tougher checks at boarding gates to identify intoxicated passengers.
British passengers found to be drunk could face being blacklisted from travelling with domestic airlines, according to a report in the Times, while airport staff serving alcohol may be expected to report inebriated travellers before they board flights.
Figures from the Civil Aviation Authority show that there have been 156 “disruptive” incidents recorded by British airlines so far in 2015. That is up from 114 across 2014 and just 85 in 2013.
There are already strict rules in place to prevent drunk or rowdy passengers from flying. A taskforce including the Department for Transport, CAA, police, airlines and airports has been set up to look into introducing new guidelines for enforcing existing legislation, the Times said.
Earlier this month a flight to Tenerife had to be diverted to Portugal after 14 passengers were accused of threatening the cabin crew. The men, who were travelling from Glasgow, were banned from airline Jet2 for life. The same week, a passenger jet travelling from Newcastle to Turkey was forced to divert to Bulgaria after a drunk women threatened to smash the aircraft’s windows.
The steep climb in recorded incidents might be down to better reporting of disruptive behaviour and a greater overall number of plane journeys, a spokesman for the CAA said.
“The number of incidents last year did rise but we have also seen an increase in the number of flights. Cabin crew are getting better trained to deal with incidents and could be reporting more of them,” the spokesman said.
He added: “There is no excuse for rude or aggressive conduct by passengers towards cabin crew or fellow passengers on board aircraft. It is actually a specific criminal offence to be drunk on board an aircraft, and also to refuse to comply with instructions from the captain. We support UK airlines’ efforts to deal with disruptive passengers to ensure the safety of all those on board, and welcome criminal prosecutions where appropriate.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “We welcome the joint working by the industry to tackle the problems caused by excessive alcohol consumption by a small minority of passengers. There are no current plans to change legislation.”
