"There is no reason why bars in airports are subject to different rules and regulations than high street pubs," the Scottish Licensed Trade Association has said, amid calls to restrict airport opening hours.
Pub bosses have lent their support to change current licensing rules at airports with claims holidaymakers often abuse alcohol and become 'unruly' on planes.
Airports and aircraft are exempt from licensing laws which control how and when alcohol is sold meaning customers do not have to wait until 10am to be served a pint.
Public health experts in Scotland said it is time for a re-think, given the risks to health, and that covid pub closures should act as a catalyst for change.
Paul Waterson, spokesman for the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, said airports should be subject to the same rules as other pubs.
He said: "The selling of alcohol in airports seems to be far more liberal than it is anywhere else.
"And I don't see any reason why it should be.
"When one considers the timings and people go onto transport, I think we have got to be very careful about the hours and so on.
"And when people are going away on holiday they do tend to have money in their pocket and that can be exploited on occasion by some unscrupulous license holders.
"We have always been very strong on the abuse of alcohol and we see very often alcohol abused in airports.
"Airports should be subject to the same rules and regulations as anyone else.
"It's a unique situation where people are leaving a licensed premises and going into a confined area.
"People are in a different frame of mind and some do over-drink.
"We see groups of men and women and they do tend to abuse alcohol and when they are going onto planes it can be quite difficult if they are unruly.
"Very often if you order spirits [on aircraft] the small bottles are a higher strength that people are used to and sometimes that leads to over-indulgence."
The Airport Operators Association said incidents involving disruptive passengers are rare but some carriers including Ryanair are supportive of restricting airport bar hours.
A number of bars at Glasgow Airport closed during lockdown and have not reopened.
The UK Government is considering proposals to restrict pub hours and has suggested banning alcohol sales from 4am to 8am.
But the Scottish Government said it has no plans to license pubs and bosses at Wetherspoons condemned the move - claiming it would jeopardise tourism.
They said it would 'adversely affect the tourist industry' as most holiday destinations worldwide allow drinking at pubs before flying.
A spokesperson said: "Wetherspoon applies the same strict policies and procedures to prevent excessive consumption of alcohol in its airport sites as it does in all its pubs.
"We work closely with the airport authorities and other operators to ensure the safety of all passengers, which is paramount.
"We do not believe that additional prohibitions are necessary, although airport authorities, in conjunction with the licensed trade, should be vigilant in not permitting the minority who abuse the system onto flights."
