Instant fines at airports for drunken passengers
DRUNKEN air passengers could be hit with on-the-spot fines at airports in a bid to crackdown on air rage.
Ministers are said to be considering the measure after alcohol was found to be the biggest cause of trouble on flights.
More than one in six people who have flown in the past three years have witnessed aggressive or drunken behaviour on board, according to the Civil Aviation Authority.
A government report has set out a range of proposals to curb excessive drinking before and during flights as part of its Aviation Strategy.
Among the suggestions are selling duty-free booze in sealed bags to reduced the likelihood of passengers drinking it on flights.
Other measures could include introducing tougher penalties for those drunk on flights and overhauli n g licensing laws for airside premises in England and Wales, which are not covered by the Licensing Act.
Ministers are also looking into fixed penalties that can be levied by police officers in the airport without having to go through the courts, according to The Times.
Existing laws prohibit a person being drunk on an aircraft, with a maximum punishment of two years in prison and an unlimited fine. Some 420 incidents of aggressive or drunken behaviour on-board were reported to the regulator last year – but there could be far more as many go unrecorded.
Last month, an easyJet flight from Manchester to Paphos in Cyprus was diverted to offload four women after a group were drinking, swearing and threatening passengers. A disturbance on a Ryanair flight last year led the carrier to call for a two-drink limit per passenger at airports.
There is no legal ban on passengers consuming their own alcohol while they fly, although airlines seek to impose their own bans.
Sealed bags are currently used only for duty-free alcohol purchases bought at the airport by passengers taking multiple flights so they can pass through additional security checks.
A spokesman for Airlines UK, the industry association representing 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 decision to consider ‘closing the licensing loophole’.