Rising number of Brits support ban on inflight alcohol sales
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Following the announcement in July by Lord Ahmad regarding an enquiry into the way alcohol is sold at airports, online travel agency Sunshine has conducted research of consumers to find out what their opinions are on the matter.
According to the survey, as many as 19% of Britons would be in support of a total ban on alcohol sales in airports and onboard flights. However, with 63% admitting to having become drunk in an airport or on a flight in the past, it’s clear to see why 71% felt that no changes should be made with regards to alcohol sales in this environment.
The firm polled a sample of 3,006 people aged 18 and over from all around the UK and asked them questions about their own experiences of drinking alcohol at airports or on flights (if any) and what their opinions on the matter were. None of the respondents were teetotal in order to avoid bias, with all of them stating prior to the poll that they drank alcohol.
All respondents were asked if they thought a ban on alcohol sales in airports and onboard flights would be a good idea, to which 19% said ‘yes’. These people were asked to explain the reasons behind their decision, to which 55% said it was because a ban on alcohol ‘would reduce drunken behaviour on flights’. 28% of the total respondents said they had previously witnessed “alcohol-fuelled incidents” at an airport or on a flight.
63% of the total respondents said that they themselves had become drunk in an airport or on a flight in the past and, when asked why they chose to drink alcohol in this environment, the top answers were as follows:
- To get into the holiday spirit before/whilst travelling – 62%
- To calm my nerves ahead of/on the flight – 41%
- Force of habit – 35%
- Just because my co-travellers were too – 27%
- To help me become tired/sleep on the flight – 25%
Asked if they’d ever been turned away at a boarding gate for being too intoxicated to fly, only 7 respondents said that this had happened to them. However, 9% had been confronted mid-flight by airline staff due to their own alcohol-fuelled behaviour.
71% of the respondents felt that no changes were necessary when it came to the sale of alcohol in airports or on flights, but 8% felt that putting alcohol limits in place for each passenger travelling through the airport or on a flight would be a ‘good idea’.
Chris Clarkson, managing director of www.sunshine.co.uk, said: “Personally, I don’t think restrictions on alcohol sales in airports or on flights would make a huge difference in terms of the number of incidents that occur when passengers are intoxicated. For one thing, they could just drink heavily before entering the airport and you’d no doubt get more people trying to smuggle alcohol through security, which wouldn’t be ideal for anyone.
“Airline staff at the boarding gates can turn people away if they feel they aren’t fit to fly because of the state they’ve got themselves into through boozing and I think that works perfectly well in terms of policing the issue.”
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