SAS og fulle passasjerer

Airline tries 3-drink limit to crack down on unruly fliers

A major European carrier is trying to curb alcohol-related flight disturbances by capping the number of drinks it serves to any one passenger.

New "guidelines" at Scandinavian carrier SAS suggest passengers should be cut off after three alcoholic drinks on its intra-Europe flights. Officials at the SAS - a member of the Star Alliance frequent-flier group - say the move is an attempt to crack down on problems caused by unruly fliers, The Local news site of Sweden reports.

"We had a few situations last year, but I can't go into the details," Malin Selander, head of media relations in Sweden, says to The Local. "These are not hard and fast rules, but guidelines that cabin crew can lean on so that if passengers appear to be getting too drunk they can be asked to stop drinking."

Disturbances caused by intoxicated fliers have been a growing concern for airlines in recent years. In addition to safety concerns, disruptions caused by unruly fliers also can be expensive for airlines. Airlines' costs can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars for flights that have to divert to offload a problem passenger.

Of course, SAS is not the only European carrier to face concerns on intoxicated fliers.

In April, discount giant Ryanair began telling customers that they can't bring booze of any kind onto its fights between Glasgow, Scotland, and the Spanish party resort of Ibiza. The route is the only one in the European discounter's large route network to get saddled with such a restriction. The ban includes duty free purchases.

And Jet2, a much-smaller discounter, has handed out lifetime bans to two allegedly drunk fliers who created disturbances on its flights this spring.

More broadly, the subject has become a priority for the airline industry as a whole.

Monarch Airlines bans six passengers FOR LIFE for 'drinking their own booze, smoking in toilets and grabbing flight attendants' as flight from Birmingham is forced to divert
 

Pilots felt they had no choice but to divert the plane to Sofia, Bulgaria
 

The Boeing 737 was carrying 137 holidaymakers and five crew members
 

A photo taken by a passenger shows police gathered outside the plane
 

The disruption resulted in a two-hour delay for those on board

Monarch Airlines has banned six passengers for life after they became disruptive on a flight from Birmingham to Turkey and forced the captain to make an unscheduled landing.

The holidaymakers have been accused of drinking booze they brought on board, smoking in the toilets and grabbing female staff while en route to the Mediterranean retreat of Dalaman.

Their behaviour got so out of hand the pilots felt they had no choice but to divert to Sofia, Bulgaria to have the unruly travellers removed by police.

Police officers gather outside the Monarch Airlines plane after being called into to remove the passengers

Police officers gather outside the Monarch Airlines plane after being called into to remove the passengers
The Boeing 737, carrying 137 holidaymakers and five crew, was more than halfway into its four-hour flight when it landed in the Bulgarian Capital,