The festive season is upon us and many travellers will be starting their Christmas travel by getting merry with a tipple at the airport. To allow passengers to make informed decisions about their actions and ensure they do not incur a festive fine before they arrive at their destination, Airport Parking & Hotels (APH.com) has put together research that reveals the 10 actions travellers should avoid doing on a plane.The research is available in the Travel Know How section of the APH website at www.aph.com/fineableactions and reveals the 10 actions travellers can get fined for on a plane, ranging from wearing excessive clothing to consuming too much alcohol.
All airlines are clamping down on holidaymakers’ drinking onboard flights. Starting this year, airlines have banned the consumption of alcohol purchased in duty-free whilst onboard flights and any alcohol purchased at airport duty-free will need to be packed into a sealed plastic bag. These special bags are labelled with the instruction: “Do not open alcohol purchases until your final destination.” Passengers are advised to place their purchases in their cabin baggage, in the hold at the boarding gate or leave their already-opened purchases behind. Passengers caught drinking duty-free alcohol mid-flight will receive a warning from the crew and could receive a fine of up to £2,000. Similarly, passengers indulging in one too many Christmas ‘spirits’ and other alcoholic beverages should remember to check their behaviour as those who disrupt flights with their drunken antics could be fined up to £5,000 or even have to spend two years in prison!
Safety onboard flights is paramount to airlines and therefore, passengers caught using the bathroom whilst the seatbelt sign is on will receive a warning from the cabin crew and a letter explaining this is both illegal and dangerous. Similarly, the safety of the cabin crew is equally as important and passengers deliberately blocking a flight attendant from walking down the aisle or out of the galley will receive a warning and could be met with a fine of up to £19,000. Also, travellers should note that a fine of £500 – £25,000 will be handed to those who smoke onboard.
Other more obscure actions that travellers can get in trouble for include: sitting in the stewards chair which will result in a warning from the stewardess about inappropriate behaviour; shining a laser beam into the cockpit mid-flight which will land passengers a £19,000 fine; and those passengers who consider wearing excessive amounts of clothing to avoid luggage fees should be warned they could be removed from the boarding gate or the flight by airport security. However, the heftiest fine is reserved for passengers who open the plane doors mid-flight. Travellers wishing to try this should think again as they may end up having to pay £85,000 for endangering other passengers and the crew, and disrupting the flight causing the plane to make an emergency landing.
Finally, a word of caution to all travellers, disruptive behaviour of any kind that leads to a flight being diverted will result in them being removed from the plane and a fine costing between £10,000 – £80,000.
For further information on Airport Parking and Hotels (APH) visit www.aph.com
or call 01342 859515.
ENDS
Notes To Editors:
10 Actions That Travellers Can Get Fined For On A Plane:
| ACTION | WARNING | REMOVED FROM FLIGHT | FINE |
| Passenger wearing excessive amounts of clothing to avoid luggage fees | · Passenger will receive a warning from flight attendants | · Passenger could be removed from the flight or boarding gate by security | · N/A |
| Disruptive behaviour from a passenger that leads to the plane being diverted | · Passenger will receive a warning from flight attendants | · Passenger will be removed from the flight | · Passenger will receive a £10,000 – £80,000 fine |
| Acts of drunkenness | · Passenger will receive a warning from flight attendants | · Passenger will be removed from the flight | · Passenger will receive a fine of £5,000
· Passengers could receive two years in prison |
| Passenger consuming alcohol they purchased in duty free onboard the flight | · Passenger will receive a warning from flight attendants | · Passenger will be removed from the flight | · Passenger could receive a maximum fine of £2,000 |
| Passenger sitting in the steward’s chair | · Passenger will receive a warning from flight attendants | · N/A | · N/A |
| Passenger opening the plane doors mid-flight | · Passenger will receive a warning from flight attendants | · Passenger will be removed from the flight | · Passenger will receive a fine of up to £85,000 |
| Passenger shining a laser beam into a cockpit | · Passenger will receive a warning from flight attendants | · N/A | · Passenger will receive a maximum fine of £19,000 |
| Passenger deliberately blocking a flight attendant from walking down the aisle or out of the galley | · Passenger will receive a warning from flight attendants | · Passenger could be removed from the flight | · Passenger could receive a maximum fine of £19,000 |
| Passenger using the bathroom whilst the seat belt sign is on | · Passenger will receive a warning from flight attendants
· Passenger will receive a letter of warning about this being illegal |
· N/A | · N/A |
| Passenger smoking onboard a flight | · Passenger will receive a warning from flight attendants | · Passenger could be removed from the flight | · Passenger will receive a £500 – £250,000 fine |
About Airport Parking and Hotels (APH)
Established in 1980, Airport Parking and Hotels (APH) is an award-winning airport parking operator and retailer, winning the ‘Best Airport Parking Company’ award at the British Travel Awards 2019 for the tenth year running. In addition to APH’s own car parks serving Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham Airports, APH also offers parking at all major UK airports as well as airport hotels, airport lounges and via trusted partners other extras such as car hire and travel insurance.
APH is a carbon-balanced company having worked closely with the World Land Trust for many years to off-set their carbon emissions and to help support rainforest conservation by protecting threatened forest habitats. APH also supports other charities and is a proud corporate sponsor of the University of Southampton Centre for Cancer Immunology, where the world’s most eminent experts come together in the quest to find new and innovative treatments. APH also has a partnership with Action Medical Research for Children to raise vital funds for research through a series of staff-based cycle and running challenges.
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