A joiner headbutted a fellow passenger catching a flight at Edinburgh Airport after he moved ahead of him in the boarding queue.
Gary Taylor lashed out at while air travellers prepared to get onto a plane to London.
The 51-year-old left victim Emilis Degutis with a cut lip after the attack in the terminal building.
Taylor admitted an assault charge at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday, but was excused attendance.
Fiscal depute Ross Carvel said the incident took place at the airport’s gate four at around 7.30pm.
He said Emilis and a friend had been attempting to board the London flight.
Mr Carvel said: “The accused told this individual to pass him and the accused moved to the side to allow them to do so.
“As (Emilis) went past him, the accused headbutted him in the face. This caused his lip to bleed.
“He noticed the accused was smelling of alcohol.”
Mr Carvel said Emilis was “perhaps unsurprisingly shocked by what he perceived as a random attack on him” and left the boarding queue to alert police.
Taylor, of Herfordshire in England, was arrested by cops at 8.05pm following the assault on February 10 last year.
Defence agent Jennifer Cameron tendered a guilty plea on her client’s behalf.
The court heard from a letter submitted by Taylor which said he was “ashamed” and “bitterly regrets his actions”.
The self-employed joiner was catching a flight home, the court was told, and he allowed Emilis and his pal to go in front of him.
Taylor “thought something had been said to him”, but accepted he was incorrect.
Sheriff Adrian Fraser fined him £320 and ordered him to pay £50 in victim compensation.
