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Drunk passengers force SAS alcohol rule change

The Local Sweden
The Local Sweden - [email protected]
Drunk passengers force SAS alcohol rule change
SAS is one of Scandinavia's biggest airlines. Photo: TT

Scandinavian airline SAS has announced new guidelines designed to limit passengers travelling within Europe to three alcoholic drinks per flight, following problems with drunk passengers last summer.

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The airline revealed on Tuesday that intoxicated passengers had caused problems for cabin crew staff on routes to several European destinations in 2014 and that the company had therefore decided to introduce new guidelines to help limit the number of beers, spirits and wines consumed on its flights across the continent.
 
"We had a few situations last year, but I can't go into the details,"  Malin Selander, head of media relations in Sweden, told The Local.
 
"These are not hard and fast rules, but guidelines that cabin crew can lean on so that if passengers appear to be getting too drunk they can be asked to stop drinking."
 
She said that the guidelines were relevant to both passengers with SAS Plus tickets (which include food and drink) and those travelling on SAS Go deals, which require customers to pay for their own refeshments.
 
"Drinking can be a problem for security and we also want to make sure that all our other passengers are having a good time and not being disturbed by others."
 
SAS customers can already be barred from boarding aircraft if they are considered to be drunk.
 
The airline is the region's biggest carrier and is part owned by the Swedish, Danish and Norwegian states.
 
Between 2013 and 2014 a total of 28.4 million passengers travelled with SAS to its destinations in Europe, the US and Asia.
 
But the company has come under increasing pressure in recent years from low-cost rivals including Ryanair and Oslo-based Norwegian, Europe's third-largest budget airline, and reported a sharp fall in net profits last year.
 
In January it announed it was launching nine new routes to popular package holiday destinations and European cities. These include direct flights between Copenhagen and the cities of Edinburgh and Ankara; between Stockholm and Ankara, Budapest or Faro, between Oslo and Salzburg and between Gothenburg and Alanya, Dublin and Bergen.

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