Hundreds of air travellers held for being too drunk

HUNDREDS of passengers have been arrested at UK airports or on planes since the start of 2017 for being too drunk.

The police figures come as the Government considers curbing 24-hour drinking at airport bars in England and Wales by extending licensing laws to stop alcohol sales before 10am.

At least 273 drunk passengers have been held in 2017 and 2018. A number of the arrests came after intoxicated travellers became abusive to staff who tried to restrict their drinking or refused to let them travel. At Aberdeen Airport one man even brandished a knife after staff refused to let him travel, while at Glasgow a drunken yob punched a bar manager.

And the figures do not even reveal the full extent of drunken behaviour as the Metropolitan and Sussex police forces – which cover Britain’s two busiest airports, Heathrow and Gatwick – did not provide information.

The Airport Operators Association said it will ‘continue to tackle the small minority who ruin it for the majority’ by pushing for those arrested to be prosecuted. Being drunk on an aircraft is punishable by up to two years in prison.