Humphrey CarterPalma23/09/2020 09:36
TW
4

Considering the few British tourists/visitors Majorca has received this summer because of the pandemic, there’s always one who has to make the headlines and for all the wrong reasons.The issue in question involved the passenger from Birmingham last week who ended up biting half an ear off a fellow passenger during a flight bound for Palma.

According to the Guardia Civil, who stormed the plane on landing and arrested said passenger, he had been drunk when he boarded the flight and reacted violently when cabin crew, within their rights, refused to serve him any more alcohol on the flight. He decided to storm the galley and help himself and the subsequent brawl broke out, much to the horror to the rest of the passengers and potential danger to the plane. One can imagine the comments on social media from Spaniards and fellow Britons - no one was impressed - ashamed even.

So, what is the solution? It’s quite simple, although sadly drastic. Either restrict opening times of bars at UK airports or introduce a system where passengers are only permitted to consume a certain amount of units before boarding a plane. This could be done by having a QPR code on the boarding card which is scanned every time a passenger orders a drink, it could easily be a fast track process and would at least serve as a way of controlling alcohol abuse at airports. The other question is why was he allowed to board the flight in the first place? Airlines and cabin crew have the powers to deny passage.