Jack Rice, 19, is at Manchester airport with a group of friends waiting to go on his first “lads’ holiday” to the Spanish party resort of Magaluf, on Mallorca. The group have arrived four hours early for their flight and after they go through security, they plan to sit down and have a few beers before getting on the plane.
“I’m not going to drink loads, just have a few,” he says. “We want to have a drink before we get over because it’s the start of our holiday. I’m not a big drinker, but I’m going to have a drink, because we don’t get there until later and I don’t want to be stone cold sober.”
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On Friday, the aviation minister, Tariq Ahmad, who was appointed by Theresa May this month, announced a review of the sale of alcohol at airports after a series of incidents involving drunk passengers.
Bars and restaurants in airports are not subject to normal licensing restrictions and can sell alcohol 24 hours a day. Although Lord Ahmad said he did not want to “kill merriment altogether”, the review will look at the times alcohol is on sale and the possibility of screening passengers before they get on their flights.
Like many other British tourists waiting to board flights to sunnier climes from Manchester, Rice does not object to the idea that there should be a limit to the amount you can drink at an airport. “If you’re too drunk, you obviously shouldn’t be allowed on a plane,” he says.
Mike Berridge, 39, is waiting with his wife, Karen, and their daughter to fly to İçmeler, Turkey. “Last year we sat just in front of an idiot who was far too drunk [and using bad language], and I don’t think it’s acceptable, especially when you’re travelling with children,” he says. “It really spoiled the journey.”
A freedom of information request by the Press Association revealed that at least 442 people were arrested in the two years to March 2016 on suspicion of being intoxicated on a plane or at an airport. Several airlines have raised concerns with the government about the number of alcohol-related incidents on flights.
In May, police were called to Manchester airport when a female passenger allegedly punched an easyJet pilot in the face after being ordered to leave a plane bound for Cyprus. In February, six British men on a stag party were arrested by German police following a mid-air brawl that caused a Ryanair flight from Luton to Bratislava to be diverted to Berlin.
Louise Mowthorpe, 46, is on her way to San Javier, Spain, with her partner, Chris Knaggs, and 10-year-old daughter. She is in favour of trying to limit people’s drinking at airports, but thinks it will be difficult to police. “Some people use drink for medicinal purposes, or when they’re stressed, they have a drink. And some people can manage alcohol better than other people,” Mowthorpe says.
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Knaggs says drinking in an airport is very different to drinking in a bar. “You’ve got a responsibility to other people’s safety on a plane. In a bar, you can just walk away from people, but [a plane is] a confined space and people are supposed to be able to operate doors … You don’t want to be sitting next to someone who’s been drinking and can’t function properly if they evacuate the plane,” he says.
A code of practice on disruptive passengers was published this week after talks between airlines, the police and bodies including the British Air Transport Association and the Airport Operators Association.
The code instructs airport shops to advise passengers not to drink alcohol they have purchased before or during their flight, and calls for the training of restaurant and bar staff to limit or stop serving alcohol in order to prevent or manage disruptive behaviour.
"You can"t just walk away on a plane": passengers on drinking at airports
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