Airline calling for two-drink limit for passengers

Ryanair calls for stricter alcohol regulations in airports. (Reuters)

Budget Irish airline, Ryanair, has requested that UK airports limit customers to two-drinks before boarding flights, and to not serve alcohol in the airport before 10 am.

This appeal comes after a report from BBC Panorama Investigation shows that arrests of drunken passengers had risen 50 percent in a year.

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Now the airline, which has banned customers from drinking duty-free alcohol aboard flights, is calling for a change in the way airports serve alcohol to people preparing to board planes.

To BBC, Ryanair’s Kenny Jacobs said: “We are calling for significant changes to prohibit the sale of alcohol at airports, particularly with early morning flights and when flights are delayed.”

According to a survey of cabin crew members, more than half of those who responded said they had witnessed disruptive drunken passenger behavior at UK airports. A Virgin airlines cabin crew manager quit her job after 14 years and told Panorama:

“People just see us as barmaids in the sky. They would touch your breasts, or they’d touch your bum or your legs. I’ve had hands going up my skirt before.”

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While airlines may limit the amount of alcohol a passenger can drink inflight, they do not have control over how much the airport serves.

Arrest figures from the BBC Panorama Investigation say 255 more people were arrested between February 2016 and February 2017 than the year prior, bringing the year's total to 387 people arrested. The statistics were received from 18 police forces with a major airport in their immediate area.

One airline, Jet2, has already banned the sale of alcohol on flights before 8 am, and Ryanair is pushing for more people to follow suit in creating stricter regulations.