Ryanair restates call for alcohol curbs at UK airports

UK. Low-cost carrier Ryanair is again asking airports to restrain alcohol consumption on their premises in order to proactively prevent inflight problems caused by drunk and unruly passengers. The call comes as the airline continues its policy of banning duty free alcohol in its cabins on flights to Ibiza this summer.

Contacted today by The Moodie Davitt Report, a Ryanair spokesperson said: “Customers flying from the UK to Ibiza are not permitted to bring duty free alcohol onboard our aircraft. Those who have purchased duty free alcohol will be asked to either place their purchases in their cabin baggage and into the hold at the boarding gate, or leave their purchases behind.”

Ryanair spells out the rules

This has been Ryanair’s policy since 2015 when a number of budget airlines like Jet2.com and the now defunct Monarch witnessed anti-social behaviour on their flights and took a stronger stance on the issue.

Ryanair is continuing its policy of banning duty free alcohol in its cabins on flights to Ibiza this summer

As part of Ryanair’s zero-tolerance approach to drunken behaviour, the second-biggest airline in Europe (by passenger numbers) is also calling for significant changes to prohibit the sale of alcohol at airports, such as a two-drink limit per passenger and no alcohol sales before 10am.

“It’s incumbent on the airports to introduce these preventative measures to curb excessive drinking and the problems it creates, rather than allowing passengers to drink to excess before their flights,” said the Ryanair spokesperson.

Last summer, Ryanair flight 9253 from London Stansted to Ibiza had to be diverted to Bordeaux in France due to loutish passengers who were carted off by local police officers. According to witnesses, the passengers were already intoxicated before boarding the flight.

A number of publications have reported the airline’s crackdown on duty free alcohol onboard Ibiza flights after emails were sent to passengers. The policy is nothing new in fact but a continuation of a hard line on alcohol abuse taken over recent years.

Licensing Act 2003 extension to airports?

In December 2017, the Home Office said it would review The Licensing Act 2003 to possibly include airside locations at airports. This was in response to a 2017 report from the House of Lords Select Committee on the act which took into account the rising number of “disruptive incidents” occurring on aircraft and the role of alcohol in them.

According to Heath Thomas, Partner at solicitors Harrison Clark Rickerbys, measures could include the restriction of licensing hours, limits imposed on the number of drinks served with boarding passes stamped or scanned for each drink, and breathalysers used before boarding. But he told The Moodie Davitt Report that, so far, the Home Office has not sent out a call for evidence in order to assess changes to the act.

Meanwhile, the UK’s Airport Operators Association says that the vast majority of UK air passengers behave responsibly when flying, adding that airlines already have the power to deny boarding to drunken or unruly passengers.

Ryanair carries over 131 million customers annually. In May, Ryanair saw passenger traffic grow by +6% to 12.5 million, with an impressive load factor of 96%. Rolling annual traffic to May grew +8% to 132.1 million.

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