Could drinking alcohol on an aeroplane be banned? Simon Calder investigates

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Transcript

00:00So you've made it through to the airport departure gate, you've got onto your plane,

00:06you are going away on holiday, and my goodness me, of course, you want a drink.

00:11Frankly, who doesn't?

00:14Lots of us enjoy a drink on the airlines, whether or not you pay for it,

00:19whether or not it's part of the airport service.

00:22But increasingly, it seems that passengers are behaving badly.

00:28I've been through the latest figures from the International Air Transport Association,

00:33and unfortunately, the number of incidents of air rage increased by 8% last year.

00:41There are now an average of 11 per hour worldwide.

00:46That is scary, enough to drive you to drink.

00:54So, what's going to be done about it?

00:56Well, the airlines, and indeed the airports, because of course, part of the problem is that

01:01a lot of people are drinking at airports before their flight,

01:05say that they are cracking down on unsocial behaviour.

01:09Except there's some odd things going on.

01:12For example, if I'm flying on EasyJet, the first beer is going to cost me €7,

01:18the second one, about half of that.

01:20It shouldn't necessarily cost more for your second drink, but it certainly shouldn't cost less.

01:27I think airlines could try completely alcohol-free flights.

01:33You might be thinking, that's impossible.

01:36But I'm old enough to remember, in 1988, when British Airways suddenly said,

01:42we're going to trial smoke-free flights.

01:45And everyone said, you can't, it will never work.

01:48And now, look, of course, smoking is completely outlawed.

01:52So, I think it would be a brave airline, perhaps on a flight that's popular with families,

01:58but also popular with drinkers, if they just said,

02:01actually, we're not going to have alcohol on that flight.

02:05Anyway, I will think more about that.

02:07I welcome your views on it, but we've got to do something.

02:11Cheers.