News

Ryanair wants airports to introduce a two-drink limit for passengers

Those flights to 'Beefa could be about to sober up

The days of smashing back a few pints at the airport Wetherspoons may be coming to an end with Ryanair calling for a limit on how much passengers drink before flying.

The budget airline is calling for a two-drink maximum after an investigation by BBC Panorama revealed a huge increase in disruptive incidents on planes and alcohol-related arrests at airports over the past five years.

There has been a 600 per cent increase in disruptive incidents between 2012 and 2016, with an anonymous cabin crew member telling Panorama that flights to Alicante, Ibiza and Palma had the worst behaviour.

Due to the short duration of Ryanair’s flights, the airline says it doesn’t sell much alcohol on them and passengers were preloading beforehand.

Ryanair’s marketing manager Kenny Jacobs told The Telegraph: “[It’s] completely unfair that airports can profit from the unlimited sale of alcohol to passengers and leave the airlines to deal with the safety consequences.

"This is a particular problem during flight delays when airports apply no limit to the sale of alcohol in airside bars and restaurants. This is an issue which the airports must now address and we are calling for significant changes to prohibit the sale of alcohol at airports, particularly with early morning flights and when flights are delayed."

Ryanair's call for a ban follows authorities chatting about possible dry flights to the Balearic Islands.

Jet2 are the only airline to have stopped selling alcohol to passengers on early morning flights after refusing to board more than 500 people and issuing 50 lifetime bans before the decision came into effect. A man also had his ear bitten off on a Jet2 flight in 2015.

In other airline-related news, an easyJet pilot was recently convicted after admitting to flying a plane while suffering the after-effects of taking ecstasy.

Also, never forget the time Scottish holidaymakers delivered a raucous rendition of MK's remix of Storm Queen's 'Look Right Through' on a Jet2 flight bound for Ibiza.

[Via: The Telegraph]

[Photo: Ed Taylor]

Louis Anderson-Rich is Mixmag's Digital Intern. Follow him on Twitter