It's Just Plane Safety Boys

You've just arrived by coach with the lads into Gatwick airport. As it's a stag do, the beers have been flowing like the water fountains in Rome, so it's a quick check in / bag drop off before hitting the bar in the departure lounge, right?

Before you know it, getting to your seat on the plane is quite the struggle, you're the last ones to get on the plane and your creating quite a stir.

You may remember a plane journey like this, I certainly did a few like this when I was younger, however the airline industry as a whole are clamping down on passengers getting too squiffy before getting on a flight ("squiffy?" makes me sound a bit like Boris Johnson!).

Ryanair have even gone one step further and stopped passengers taking any duty free booze onboard flights from the UK to Ibiza! So if you have bought duty free booze it will have to be surrendered at the gate, put into a suitable item of cabin luggage, tagged and put into the hold free of charge. If you only have a plastic bag then you will need to dispose of the alcohol in the bins provided.

The CAA have advised us that's it's actually a criminal offence to be drunk on a flight, and these measures have been brought in for the safety of other passenger and the air crew, which is completely understandable.

Each year there are quite a few stories in the press relating to drunken passengers, Brits being pinned to the tarmac in Tenerife by police or group members getting arrested onboard as soon as they touch down at their destination. You have paid a lot of money for your holiday and probably looked forward to it for half a year, so why spoil it?

Did you know that...

One drink in the air is equal to three drinks on the ground, wow! Is it because the air is thinner in the clouds or is it because onboard at 30,000 feet a distinct lack of oxygen get's to your brain, my thoughts are with the latter.

If the cabin crew / captain decide that your behaviour is a threat to other passengers then the airline has the right to land before you get to your destination and have you escorted off the plane by police. This then can lead to huge fines and even prison sentences.

There are actually no age restrictions on drinking on a flight and it's down to the airline whether to serve you alcohol or not.

On the flip side, if you fly a scheduled airline such as BA, the drinks onboard within reason are included in your airfare (please check with your airline as not all scheduled airlines offer this perk).

Some airlines do not serve alcohol onboard and are called dry airlines; these airlines include Kuwait Airways, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Iran Air, but I don't suppose you will be visiting these countries on your stag do, however, I could be wrong!

So to round this all up, my advice is; if you have the need for mass drinking wait until you get to your destination, obviously you can have a pint or two before getting onboard (this may change in the future, so be careful) but whatever you do, don't get drunk, anti social or abusive before or during your flight or you can kiss good bye to your stag do.

It's nice to be nice people.

Disclaimer
The above details and facts are correct at time of publish however, airlines change their terms and conditions all the time so it's always best to check these details before you book your flight / fly.