Alcohol on flights ?

Restricted yes but not banned. I hate flying and a glass of wine helps me enormously. Although I did the 7 hour flight to New York without a drink. No one offered us one and I coped.

I don't know how you'd enforce that. Often it's people drinking at the airport beforehand that's the problem. Breathalyse people as they board?

I like a drink on the plane when we fly long haul though don't bother for domestic flights. It's a shame to prevent the many people who like a quiet drink from having one just because of a few louts.

We usually have to get an early morning flight when we go away and I must admit, I am agog at the people drinking beer and the like in the airport bar at 7:30am!

Banned on flights in my opinion if anyone’s nervous they can have a glass of wine before and why should people be putting others in these situations People can surely manage a few hours without booze after all even hardened smokers have been trained not to have a fag r a vape on board

I fail to see why the behaviour of drunken louts should stop me having a glass (or two) of lunch on a long haul flight. Anyone who is obviously intoxicated should be refused boarding.

Yes. Ban all airport bars and don't let people board who look like they'd been drinking. No need for the onboard drinks trolley to be banned but maybe it needn't come round so often?

We were on a flight with a crowd of rugby players a coupel of years ago and they got drunker by the minute.The poor stewardess ahd a hard time keeping them under control .As luck would have it they were on the same flight back when we had really bad turbulence.They were reduced to crying whinging kids.Being sick and vowing never to fly again .It was pitiful to see.One of them apologised to me as we got off for their behaviour on the way out ,he said that many of them were terrified of flying and drinking was how they faced it. He said Eurostar was his method of travel from now on.....I did tell him getting a mild sedative from his doctor might be the way forward

The only conclusion that I can come up with is that those who get tanked up are clearly scared of flying and are trying to cover up their fear. It's their way of tolerating the journey but it's wrong as it puts others in danger and restrictions should be in force.

Personally I'd never come across any such behaviour on any of the long-haul flights I've been on neither to a destination nor back home and there were free drinks on these flights.

If the All Blacks can behave themselves on a long flight back to the UK then so can everyone else. I was testament to that.

I don't think alcohol should be banned on flights because of a few drunken idiots who get intoxicated before boarding - perhaps they should be breathalysed before boarding if they show signs of being drunk and banned from the flight. I've never been on a flight where alcohol is continuously available - or have I missed the trolley?

On longhaul it's nice to have a drink with dinner and I have never seen anyone drunk on a longhaul flight, even when we spent a 13+ hour flight with a load of rugby supporters coming home from enjoying the World Cup!

In my experience, the worst culprits for drunken behaviour on short-haul flights (and often on trains) are young men going off for a stag 'do'.

I prefer not to have a glass of wine before I board but do enjoy just one with dinner on longhaul, then the lights go out and everyone tries to sleep. The cabin crew will come round with water or juice but not alcohol.

It's the pre-flight boozing that is the problem and airport staff need to be more pro-active with problem passengers.

I’ve never been on a flight where I’ve been offered enough alcohol to get even slightly tipsy.
I dislike flying and the thought of a glass of wine with lunch slightly offsets my anxiety.

I think the answer is to make it clear that anyone showing signs of inebriation won’t be allowed to board.

I recently travelled by train from Carlisle to Newcastle. Just ahead of me in the two-compartment train was a gang of young men, each of whom was openly carrying either a bottle of wine or a six-pack of beer.
Fortunately they appeared to be saving it for later.

I've been surprised on some flights by people asking for 2 or 3 of the bottles of wine or miniatures of spirits and being given them without demur by the stewards. Those were flights that included all refreshments.
Maybe people tend to 'tank up' more before shorter flights on the no frills airlines? Maybe it's more stag dos? (My phone auto corrected that to 'drag dos'! - what a thought!)
I don't know. Its pretty scary for all the other passengers when there are drunks on board.

What I read on this subject a day or two ago said that what should be banned is people drinking duty free booze that they have bought at the airport before boarding. The idea was that any such purchases should be in a sealed bag. Not sure how this would be enforced.

Restricted, possibly. Banned, no.
Anyone who appears drunk when boarding should be refused entry to the aircraft. Anyone being violent/abusive on the plane, should face arrest at the arival airport, and if an aircraft has to be diverted due to their behaviour, they should be faced with the costs.

Seem to remember there were great outcries when a ban on smoking was being mooted. How were people going to cope? Its all done and dusted now and people seem to manage.
I do not cope with flying very well, it makes me rather unwell and alcohol is definitely not something my system needs. In fact I'm one of those strange people that do not have the meal no matter how long the flight. You are just sitting there, hardly using much energy and I'd much rather have something decent before I board and then have a proper meal upon landing (or after a decent sleep in the hotel if its a really long flight). All travel writers recommend just keeping hydrated and not taking alcohol as well.

Definitely think that alcohol shouldn’t be sold at airports or in flight. It’s another case of the few spoiling it for the majority!

I think if possible restrict intake of alcohol at the Airport bars, thats were the trouble begins.
On Long Haul flights, it is nice to be offered wine/ beer with meals,otherwise on short flights alcohol doesnt need to be served.
Personally I enjoy a glass of wine.

I’m always surprised by people hitting the bars at airports really early in the morning. I know we are all different but that would make me ill and spoil my day. Maybe people should be breathalysed before they board as there have certainly been some frightening incidents for young families to witness.

I think you should have to purchase vouchers to buy a drink at the airport when you book the flight e.g. maximum of 3 units per person. Would not solve it completely but would cut it down. Also mandatory jail sentence for agressive behaviour on a flight of 5 years

I think the selling of alcohol at airports should be stopped. Most people are in the terminal for a couple of hours before boarding so any effects of earlier drinking should have worn off before getting on the plane. Then, once in flight a small (controlled) amount should be allowed with meals.

This is all a far cry from the first time I ever flew ! People behaved themselves and there were no louts or drunks ! Sad.

I do like to have a glass of something before I board (depending on what time the flight is) but do not very often have anything alcoholic on the flight. That is my choice and I don’t think it should be taken from me because if a few selfish drunken people.
I have however had a dreadful experience on a British Airways flight where there was a stag party totally inebriated throwing around balls of rolled up paper and openly drinking from litre bottles of Jaeger Bomb. The air stewards could not control them and ended up moving us to different seats rather than sorting the yobs out.
This was caused by the amount of alcohol consumed before boarding not what they were served on the airplane.
The bottles should have been confiscated from them.
The only thing the crew did was tell them to calm down (totally ignored) and make a couple of them cover up slogans on their TShirts. I am not a prude but they were disgusting saying things about raping women.
I felt sorry for parents with young children on this flight as they must have felt intimidated.
My complaints to BA fell on deaf ears but it has put me off flying with them again as they totally did not deal with the situation.

I was on a flight to India once where there was a party of young Muslim men who were confronted with alcohol for possibly the first time in their lives. They managed to get stupidly drunk and one or two were sick into their beards. Disgusting.