London – Airports have been advised to impose tougher restrictions on alcohol sales in the departure lounge after new figures revealed the number of disruptive incidents on flights has tripled over the last three years.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said 114 cases of disruptive passengers were recorded last year, including bomb threats, assaults on cabin crew, smoking in the toilets and trying to gain entry to the cockpit.
The figure for 2014 compared with 85 instances in 2013, 47 in 2012 and 39 in 2011, on British planes. But despite the sharp rise in recent years, the problem is not as acute as it was in the late 1990s, the CAA said.
Alcohol has been cited as a factor in the stark increase, with passengers consuming large amounts in departure lounges while waiting to board their flight.
Of the cases recorded by the aviation watchdog, 34 related to assaults on either cabin crew or passengers, while 18 involved smoking.
Daily Mail