A recent flight in Europe has had to deal with a particularly thirsty group of passengers.
The flight from the UK to Turkey was only just in the air when all the booze on board was downed in less than 30 minutes. That still left more than three hours of flying time sans alcohol.
The feat surprised staff on the Turkish-German airline SunExpress.
CEO Max Kownatzki told TTG Media the passengers on board were golfers.
“We sold out of beer and wine 25 minutes after departure; we haven’t done that in any other market,” said Kownatzki.
Which UK airport the flight originated from hasn’t been revealed, but Kownatzki said the Brits are “more high-spend, more hedonistic” than other consumers the airline deals with.
SunExpress is a joint venture of Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa and currently flies to 90 destinations in 30 countries, mainly in Europe. It uses a fleet of Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.
Passengers drinking a plane dry has happened before.
In 2016, American football fans drained a Southwest Airlines service of booze on their way from California to Kansas City. The feat even earned a congratulations from the pilot.
While the supporters on that particular plane were said to have behaved well, that’s not always the case.
In the UK, instances of air rage fuelled by alcohol have nearly tripled over the past three years.
An article in The Times said there were more than 1000 cases of disruptive behaviour reported in 2022, compared with 373 before the pandemic in 2019. In 2013, there were only 85 events recorded.
In the past some airlines, including low-cost carrier Ryanair, have called for stricter policies on selling alcohol at airports.
credit stuff
