Colleagues whod been punched, kicked, and one of them was head butted by a passenger. Kicked, and one of them was headbutted by a passenger. We go undercover to expose the truth about Alcohol Sales at uk airports. They are making it very, very readily available. bleep and we ask whether subsidising flights through cheap Alcohol Sales is leaving passengers and crew with a nasty hangover. More than 2 million flights take off from the uk every year. Most are uneventful, but some passengers cause problems even before takeoff. June the 21st, wednesday afternoon. Passengers at Manchester AirportWe Re Passengers at Manchester Airport were waiting to board an easyjet flight were waiting to board an easyjet flight to antalya in turkey. Were waiting to board an easyjet flight to antalya in turkeym were waiting to board an easyjet flight to antalya in turkey. It was my Summer Holiday with my boyfriend so, yeah, i was pretty excited. Before we even boarded the plane, there was a party of four. They were very, very drunk, loud and disruptive. The flight took off. Almost immediately, passengers and crew became increasingly disturbed by the Drunken Behaviour. About 25 minutes into the flight, one of the two passengers started to get extremely abusive. She was shouting at the crew. We asked the stewards to tell her she cant drink any more. She was on her holiday. She kept swearing and kicking off, and it was escalating. I was more concerned about my immediate family because they were getting very distressed. Eventually the stewards did manage to confiscate the alcohol. A litre bottle of vodka. Probably about a third left. The womens behaviour forced the crew to divert to sta nsted womens behaviour forced the crew to divert to stansted airport. Having delayed other passengers by three hours, the women were removed by police, and received Penalty Notices for public order offences. Its embarrassing. Really is embarrassing. Really is embarrassing. Planes are only diverted when the direction is so extreme that the crew cant carry out their duties and ensure passenger safety. This Police Footage shows the arrest of a drunk, abusive passenger after his behaviour caused his flight to be diverted to gatwick. He was jailed for nine months for offences including assault. It has been even worse. Drunk passengers threatening to kill or open plain doors and even attempts to enter the cockpit. Arrests of passengers suspected of being drunk ona passengers suspected of being drunk on a flight or at a uk airport have risen by 50 in the past year. Panorama contacted all 20 Police Forces with a major uk airport on their patch. The 18 that responded had made a total of 387 arrests. These alcohol fuelled incidents are now being captured by holidaymakers armed with smart phones. Being drunk on a flight is a criminal offence which can land you in prison. So why do so many of us hit the bar, whatever the time, as soon as we get to the airport . Baroness hater is pounding director of alcohol concern. The Labour Party Peer is also chairman of the group on Alcohol Abuse and has long held misgivings about its sale at airports. The weight airports now work and the way they make their money is basically expecting passengers to spend a lot of money while they are there. The biggest thing that happens as you go is alcohol. Cash spent on booze helps keep the price of air travel down, but has it now become too readily available . To find out for myself whats really going on, im heading to the airport. Im meeting baroness Hayter At Gatwick to catch an Early Morning flight to barcelona and to do some secret filming with my smartphone. Hello. Nice to see you. Early morning. Whats the time, six oclock . I dont normally do this £1 in every £5 spent on duty free in gatwick is on alcohol. The first thing is, after the loos, the pub. Its six a. M. Many in this barare the pub. Its six a. M. Many in this bar are boozing before breakfast. Ive counted six pints already. And a couple of bellini s. Ive counted six pints already. And a couple of bellini s. Make that seven. A glass of white wine already. Six oclock in the morning. The reason alcohol can be sold at airports this early is, once you are through security, Licensing Laws governing everywhere else dont apply. If you go half a mile outside of Gatwick Airport, you couldnt buy alcohol there, or anywhere else. Now, why is this different . As well as bars, cafes and restaurants serving drinks, gatwick, like most uk airports, has Vip Languages as early as four oclock. So, foreign entrance fee from £25, what do you get . Vip lounges. You serve yourself, and you can drink as much as you like in the three hour window. Drink as much as you like in the threehour window. No, you go first. We can drink as much as we want. Weve just met some really nice people but they said their flights are delayed, so they could be here two, three hours, and they could have had, i dont know, £50 of drinks, Something Like that, and just keep going. Finally, before making our way to the gate, the baroness and i are offered free spirits. That was our tour of Gatwick Airport. We are on our way to barcelona. From what youve just seen, would you say the airport is responsibly selling alcohol . No, they are selling it out of licensing hours, they are selling it without asking how much people have already drunk. They are making it very, very readily available. This apparent free for all seems likely to be contributing to the steady rise in drunken passengers boarding planes. But many in the Aviation Industry we re but many in the Aviation Industry were reluctant to talk to us about the problem. We did persuade Serving Cabin Crew to speak to us, but only on the condition we kept their identity hidden. Ive found cou ntless identity hidden. Ive found countless Litre Bottles of vodka. We find bottles of bacardi, bottles of gin. I took three miniature is off a lady. She said, they told me i can drink these on board the aircraft when i was in the Duty Free Shop. Ive gone into the back galley. Ive been cornered by somebody, tried to kiss me, making sexual moves on me, having to push them away. It can go from anything, from banter to Sexual Assault really. And other colleagues who been punched, kicked, and one of them was head butted by a passenger. Its definitely getting worse. So to what extent are dairy experiences representative of whats really going on in the skies . With the help of unite union, panorama has survey 4000 uk cabin crew. Weve learned the overwhelming majority have witnessed drunken, disruptive Passenger Behaviour most in the past year. We also found that more than half of cabin crew who responded to our survey had either experienced all witnessed verbal, physical or sexual abuse by drunk passengers on board the uk flight. Some airlines are reluctant to admit publicly this isa are reluctant to admit publicly this is a problem, but behind the scenes, most are training their staff to deal with it. Most are training their staff to dealwith it. Where is this most are training their staff to deal with it. Where is this drink . Where is it . Dont tell me, you. Can you sit down please . |j where is it . Dont tell me, you. Can you sit down please . I ordered a drink five minutes ago. Mark hardy isa drink five minutes ago. Mark hardy is a specialist in aviation conflict management. And then we are going to turn your hips and neck at the same time and sweep off, ok . Turn your hips and neck at the same time and sweep off, 0k . One in turn your hips and neck at the same time and sweep off, ok . One in five of the cabin crew who responded to our survey had been physically abused during the uk flight, so realistic training is crucial. Get us realistic training is crucial. Get usa drink. Realistic training is crucial. Get us a drink. Wheres the crew . Theres an obvious problem developing with at least one of the passengers. He is kicking off. Excuse me, sir. Whats the problem . I want excuse me, sir. Whats the problem . Iwanta excuse me, sir. Whats the problem . I want a drink. Ive been waiting ages. Would you like a glass of water in the meantime . Do i look like the kind of guy who wants a glass of water . I hope you have a lovely holiday that you need to calm down because you are disrupting other passengers on the flight. Its intimidating and this is just a training exercise. Imagine being on a flight where you cant get off and its happening for real. I imagine its happening for real. I imagine it would be pretty scary and a lot to deal with. Despite the scale of the problem, we struggled to get an airline to appearon the problem, we struggled to get an airline to appear on camera. The low cost operator, jet2, did offer to speak to us. The leeds based firm flies 50,000 passengers a day. I think we need to take a stand. We will stop somebody from flying home if necessary and we have issued some lifetime bans. A year ago, jet2 also stopped serving alcohol on flights taking up before eight a. M. It may only be limited step that they are the only uk airline to carry out any kind of ban on booze. Do you think airports doing enough . kind of ban on booze. Do you think airports doing enough . I think they are able to do more. I think the retailers can do more as well. Two litre steins of beer, mixes in Duty Free Shops, which can only be there for one reason. They are items that are not sold on the high street. To drink on the plane . Yep. Diversions caused by Drunken Behaviour are rare but when they happen they dontjust inconvenienced passengers, they also Cost Airlines tens of thousands of pounds. The worst routes, i would say, are alicante, i be fair, lap ulmer. They are on an aircraft and its not a bar, its not a nightclub. Thats why a lot of crew end up hating the job and they will quit, because theyjust dont get paid enough to deal with this. When i was walking through the airport in the morning and the bars were busy, id say 80 of the tables had alcohol on them at 4 45 a. M. What do you fancy to drink . Ill have a cappuccino please. Injune, laura hodge was about to fly from Manchester Airport to ibiza. The former cabin crew manager of on her own holidays noticed the drinking of a lot of her fellow passengers was getting out of hand before departure. The atmosphere in the airport was a bit like a party atmosphere, i would say. Downing drinks, counting down, cheering each other on. The Ryanair Flight was delayed by an hour. Laura says the airline announced it would be a dry flight, airline announced it would be a dry flight, serving no alcohol on board. Passengers who didnt want to miss out didnt have to go too far. We noticed that there was a bar right next to the gate, which looked maybe like a temporary bar, or something that wasnt normally there, and they we re that wasnt normally there, and they were serving beer, predominantly, i remember. They are Serving Booze right next to you . Right next to the gate, so completely mixed message. Its just crazy. When the flight did eventually take off, laura says the airline did serve alcohol on board, despite saying they wouldnt, and the Drunken Behaviour became even worse. When people were getting on the plane, they were clearly very drunk. In my original vision out the corner of my eye, i could see one of the ladies was obviously sat on the guides knee, doing stuff you probably shouldnt be doing on a plane. The women in this video, which went viral, admitted being drunk but denied having sex. An increasing number of drunken incidents in the sky have been hitting headlines, often captured on smart phones, but the evidence isnt just anecdotal. The Civil Aviation authority, responsible for this flight authority, responsible for this Flight Safety in the uk, says that, in the last five years, disruptive Passenger Behaviour has seen a sixfold increase, with Industry Experts believe in this rise is mostly experts believe in this rise is m ostly d own experts believe in this rise is mostly down to alcohol. Palmer is the capital in majorca and at the heart of the islands which includes ibiza. A local politician and Alcohol Campaign leader believes too many reduced the rest are landing here drunk. If a plane is delayed because of an incident in airports like glasgow or manchester, it creates problems here in majorca. So it can collapse the airport, but i think we have to act notjust for that because of the problems created by this kind of tourism. Just last month a local Department Of Tourism asked the Spanish Government and the eu for new laws to address the problem. So you want a ban on alcohol on flights from the uk, coming to the glaring islands . Not just from the uk, we have the same problem with flights from germany. What punishments would you like to see put in place for people who break the rules if they come here . They must be highflyers because at the end of this kind of people dont understand any kind of thing than really getting punished by paying a lot of money. Fewer drunks on uk flights would mean more peaceful journeys for other passengers and aviation staff, but it is too late for ally murphy who recently quit herjob as cavan manager for for ally murphy who recently quit herjob as Cavan Managerfor virgin airlines. This is my last flight. She often worked on long haul flights but after 14 years of service that drunk and disruptive behaviour of passengers played a key pa rt behaviour of passengers played a key part in her decision to leave. People just see us as barmaids in the sky. I was pulled into an upper class bed by a passenger who was feeling particularly lucky, i guess. If they cut your breast or your bum oryour guess. If they cut your breast or your bum or your legs, ive had hands going up my skirt before. It is Rage Inducing and you shouldnt have to deal with that. There are two words to describe that. Sexual harassment and is completely unacceptable. Have you ever reported incidents like that . I never reported it to the police because sadly, and this is completely wrong and only occurring to me now, you kind of just and only occurring to me now, you kind ofjust accept it and only occurring to me now, you kind of just accept it as and only occurring to me now, you kind ofjust accept it as part of thejob and kind ofjust accept it as part of the job and it shouldnt be. The link between alcohol and disruptive Passenger Behaviour isnt news to the uk Aviation Industry, which believes it has found a solution. Only a year ago a voluntary code was introduced which most of the big airlines and airports signed up to. The code of practice on disruptive passengers suggests that airports and airlines should Work Together to limit disruptive behaviour and sell alcohol responsibly. So in the year since it was introduced, how have things changed . Since it was introduced, how have things changed . Well. Not significantly. According to our Industry Insiders. The code of conduct isnt working. Its all well and good for the home office to say that it and good for the home office to say thatitis, and good for the home office to say that it is, theyre sat there in their offices behind their desks. Were on the frontline and seeing these incidents on a daily, weekly monthly basis. It is the alcohol mainly and the duty free that significant problem. Mainly and the duty free that significant problemlj mainly and the duty free that significant problem. I have not noticed any improvement in any Passenger Behaviour within the last year whatsoever. None at all. One in fourcabin year whatsoever. None at all. One in four cabin crew who responded to our survey we re four cabin crew who responded to our survey were unaware of the code of practice. Of those who had heard of it, less than a quarter thought it was working in reducing drunken Passenger Behaviour. Weve also been told by Industry Insiders that in practice not much has changed. I am travelling to manchester to see for myself and, once again, im secretly filming with my smartphone. Manchester airport is signed up to the voluntary code of practice, which commits them to the responsible selling of alcohol to prevent or manage disruptive behaviour. Just arrived at manchester. Ive made my way through security. First thing on my right is a starbucks. And on a minute, beer. A bit of champagne, wine, porrini. Thats a shocker, wine in starbucks. Peroni. Never had that before. It is 5 30pm and five outlets are selling alcohol in this terminal. Four are selling alcohol in this terminal. Four a re cafes selling alcohol in this terminal. Four are cafes that wouldnt sell it on the high street. Because Licensing Laws dont apply once you are through security, any shop can sell alcohol. They surely cant be selling beer in the pasty shop. And they are. Like anyone else to get through the to the Departure Gate i have no choice but to go through the Duty Free Shop. The shop is owned by the company that sells a lot of spirits at uk airports eve