A few years back, high over the Indian Ocean on an Air India flight from Delhi to Sydney, a fellow passenger slipped into the toilet cubicle and gargled most of his duty-free booze. When he reappeared in the row behind me, he was cheerful and chatty, sharing his views on life with all and sundry.

He wasn’t aggressive, just sociable, but the cabin crew weren’t taking chances. They zip-tied his wrists to the armrests, later removing him to the rear of the aircraft. When we landed in Sydney all on board had to remain seated for some time while security came on and removed him.

Disruptions, delays and even diversions to offload drunk and aggressive passengers became a problem in the skies long before 2008, when Naomi Campbell was dragged off a British Airways flight, kicking and screaming and under the influence, according to some reports. Subsequently charged with assaulting a police officer during the diva meltdown, she was later banned from all BA flights.

The airlines most affected by drunk passengers are European low-cost carriers EasyJet and Ryanair. In April 2024, a Ryanair flight from Dublin to Lanzarote in Spain diverted and landed at Porto after a kerfuffle caused by a drunk and unruly passenger. Since the crew were at the tail end of their maximum working hours, they and the flight’s 160 passengers spent an unplanned night in Porto, costing Ryanair more than €15,000 for accommodation, food and sundry charges. The airline subsequently sued the passenger for all costs.

Ryanair has had enough of drunk and disorderly passengers, and in January this year it went one step further, petitioning the European Union to impose a two-drink limit at all European airports. In a statement, the airline said: “We fail to understand why passengers at airports are not limited to two alcoholic drinks (using their boarding pass in exactly the same way they limit duty-free sales), as this would result in safer and better passenger behaviour on board aircraft.”

The airport bar industry arced up, asking why it should bear the financial burden and become the enforcers charged with denying passengers their legal right to have a drink or five to steady (or otherwise) their pre-flight nerves? Adding fuel to its cause, there is nothing on the table that seeks to curb the bottomless booze supply in airport lounges, where alcohol is served on request – and free.

What does the law say about alcohol service on aircraft?

Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority spells it out clearly and succinctly in a document entitled Your Safety and Behaviour: “It is an offence to enter an aircraft whilst intoxicated, or to be intoxicated on an aircraft. You can’t consume your own alcohol onboard. You can only drink what the cabin crew provides.”