BATA response to comments made by Aviation Minister on disruptive behaviour

July 29th, 2016

Responding to comments made by the new Aviation Minister, Lord Ahmad, regarding disruptive behaviour by air passengers, Tim Alderslade, Chief Executive of the British Air Transport Association (BATA), said:

“Last year over 251 million passengers passed through UK airports. Thankfully incidents of disruptive behaviour are a very rare occurrence but where they do happen the impact can have serious consequences for fellow passengers, employees working in the air and at the airport, as well as for the disruptive passengers themselves. These incidents can be costly and cause delays. With air travel proving more popular than ever, and passenger numbers expected to rise across the whole of the UK in the coming years, now is the time to tackle this problem collectively. 

 “As an industry we take a zero tolerance approach to disruptive passenger behaviour. That is why we have all – airlines, airports, duty free retailers, bar and pub managers, and the police – come together to develop the voluntary Code of Practice. This sets out how we can work collectively and individually further to reduce incidents of disruptive behaviour, and act to minimise the impact where they do occur despite our best combined efforts to prevent them. We are committed to ensuring passengers have a consistently safe and enjoyable experience when travelling and to providing a safe and pleasant work environment for our employees.

 “Ultimately, we need the message to go out that all passengers are responsible for their own behaviour and that causing disruption on-board an aircraft is an illegal offence which can carry a heavy penalty, such as a travel ban, fine, or even a prison sentence.”

ENDS

29 July 2016