Ex-airline boss says alcohol should be BANNED on all flights after Ryanair takes unruly passenger to court
A FORMER airline boss has said that booze should be banned on flights.
Padraig O’Ceidigh – former boss of Aer Lingus Regional – said that airlines should be more responsible when it comes to serving alcohol onboard.
He told breakingnews.ie: “I don’t think that alcohol should be sold on board an airplane, quite frankly.
“Particularly on reasonably short-haul flights, but I don’t think it should be sold on airplanes in any event.
“Cigarettes aren’t sold on airplanes.”
Alcochol has been served on plans since the 1940s, with airlines such as Northwest and Pan Am offering booze onboard.
But with a rise in low-cost flights and lack of regulation on alcohol service, incidents by drunk passengers have risen.
Airlines industry body IATA reported a a 47 per cent increase in drunken incidents last year, citing both pre-flight and onboard alcohol service.
Ryanair – an airline with some of the highest incidents related to alcohol – confirmed that they would be seeking damages against an unruly passenger.
The traveller, who caused a flight between Dublin and Lanzarote to divert to Porto – is being sued for £12,500 for the bad behaviour onboard.
Ryanair said: “It is unacceptable that passengers – many of whom are heading away with family or friends to enjoy a relaxing summer holiday – are suffering unnecessary disruption and reduced holiday time as a result of one unruly passenger’s behaviour.”
The low-cost airline’s boss Michael O’Leary has previously spoken out about alcohol restrictions onboard, suggesting a two-drink limit.
He previously said: “Passengers fighting with each other is a growing trend on board our aircraft.
“We don’t want to stop people having a drink.
“But we don’t allow people to drink-drive, yet we keep putting them in aircraft at 33,000 feet.”
A number of airlines do not serve alcohol onboard, although this is primarily for religious reasons.
Airlines include Egyptair and Kuwait Airways, along with Saudia and Royal Brunei Airlines do not serve any booze.
And Turkish airlines, that flies to the most countries in the world, only served alcohol on their international flights, not domestic.
New Saudi carrier Riyadh Air is looking to launch flights from the UK although also confirmed that they would not be serving alcohol onboard.
While most airlines do not have any drink restrictions in place, most ban passengers from drinking their own alcohol that they have brought with them.
NHS guidelines on drinking alcohol
According to the NHS, regularly drinking more than 14 units of alcohol a week risks damaging your health.
To keep health risks from alcohol to a low level if you drink most weeks:
- men and women are advised not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis
- spread your drinking over 3 or more days if you regularly drink as much as 14 units a week
- if you want to cut down, try to have several drink-free days each week
If you’re pregnant or think you could become pregnant, the safest approach is not to drink alcohol at all to keep risks to your baby to a minimum.
You read more on the NHS website.
And crew are allowed to cut passengers off who are deemed too drunk.
Here’s why drinking alcohol on a flight could even be deadly.