CRACKDOWN: Alcohol to be kept in sealed bags to put a stop to drunken airline passengers

All alcohol bought at airport shops could be placed in sealed bags in a crackdown on disruption by drunken passengers.
Crackdown on drunken airline passengersCrackdown on drunken airline passengers
Crackdown on drunken airline passengers

The measure may be used to enforce a possible ban on travellers drinking their own alcohol on flights, a Government document reveals.

Ministers are also considering introducing tougher penalties for drunkenness on aircraft and overhauling licensing laws for airside premises in England and Wales.

The Government set out the proposals in a recent preliminary document as it develops its Aviation Strategy.

More than one in six people (18%) who have flown in the past three years have witnessed aggressive or drunken behaviour on board, according to the Civil Aviation Authority.

Some 420 disruptive passenger incidents were reported to the regulator in 2017.

The real extent of the problem could be more serious as many incidents are not recorded.

In 2016 one airline passenger's drunken behaviour forced a flight from Leeds Bradford Airport to be diverted. The man was banned from flying with Jet2.com for life and fined £12,000 after drinking his own booze “illicitly” and threatening a family on board the plane, before verbally abusing a member of cabin crew.READ MORE: Airline ban and £12,000 fine for drunk passenger, 21, after Leeds flight diverted

Last year, a man was jailed for a year for being drunk and abusive on a plane which landed at Doncaster. Juris Terentjevs, aged 30, was travelling from the Latvian capital of Riga when he was found to be drunk and verbally abusive.

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Man jailed for being drunk and abusive on plane to Doncaster

In August a mid-air brawl involving men and women broke out on a Ryanair flight from Newcastle to Alicante in Spain.

The carrier claimed the incident demonstrated the need for a two-drink limit per passenger at airports.

Sealed bags are currently only used for airport alcohol purchases by passengers taking multiple flights to enable them to pass through additional security checks.

Existing laws prohibit a person being drunk on an aircraft, with a maximum punishment of two years in prison and an unlimited fine.

But there is no ban on passengers consuming their own alcohol while they fly, although this is a policy of UK airlines.

In the US, only alcohol served by cabin crew can legally be drunk on a plane.

A recent report by a House of Lords committee recommended that the Licensing Act 2003 should be extended to airside premises at airports in England and Wales to give licensing authorities greater oversight.

Government officials are considering the impact of this on passenger behaviour.

The Aviation Strategy will be put to public consultation in the autumn, with the final version published early next year.

A spokesman for Airlines UK, the industry association representing UK-registered carriers, said its members were doing "everything they can" to tackle the problem of disruptive passengers, including supporting a voluntary code of conduct.

He described the introduction of sealed bags as "a really interesting idea" and welcomed the Government's decision to consider "closing the licensing loophole".

A survey of 1,874 people commissioned by Airlines UK found that 80% believe airport shops and bars which sell alcohol should be subjected to the same licensing requirements as those in towns and cities.

A further poll of 103 MPs found that 63% agreed with this point of view.