TUI Airlines is making a significant change to its in-flight alcohol policy, effective November 1. The carrier will no longer offer complimentary alcoholic drinks to economy passengers on long-haul flights, except for a complimentary beer or wine served with their main meal.
Customers will continue to receive complimentary soft drinks throughout their flight. However, passengers will now have to pay for additional alcoholic beverages onboard.
Adults with existing bookings affected by the change will receive a £12.50 refund per flight, each way. The premium cabin experience remains unchanged.
The decision has received mixed responses from passengers. Some have expressed support for the change, citing concerns about disruptive behavior caused by excessive drinking.
One user on Tiktok said, “Good, I am glad. I sat on a 10-hour flight to Mexico last year, a wedding group of about 20 adults were absolutely drunk before even getting on.” Another user said, “All alcohol should be banned from airports and aeroplanes, it causes too much trouble.”
Some passengers have responded with frustration. One user wrote, “TUI are dead to me.” Another said, “It shouldn’t have to be a blanket ban for everyone. People just need to have more control. Many just enjoy one or two drinks, and I don’t see an issue with that.”
TUI is not the only airline to roll out restrictions on alcohol. Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has suggested that airports should be banned from serving booze to passengers before early flights to reduce disruption.
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A spokesperson for Ryanair said, “The problem is not drinking on board one-hour flights; the excessive drinking occurs in airport terminals where no limits are placed on alcohol consumption, especially during flight delays.”
Intoxicated passengers are a common cause of bad behavior on aircraft. In 2019, there were 390 occasions when airlines reported “difficulty in controlling intoxicated, violent or unruly passengers”, according to official Civil Aviation Authority statistics.
By 2023, the number had risen to 1,245 incidents, and in 2024 it remained over 1,000. Being drunk on a plane is a criminal offence and can be punished by a fine of up to £5,000 and two years’ imprisonment.
Ryanair has introduced a €500 fine for disruptive passengers, and the airline has several processes in place to manage disruptive passengers onboard, including crew’s discretion to limit the number of drinks permitted to be purchased inflight.
TUI’s new policy compares to other airlines’ approaches to managing in-flight drinking. While some airlines have implemented similar restrictions, others have taken a more controlled approach, such as limiting the number of drinks served to individual passengers.
The airline’s move is part of a broader effort to manage group holidays and reduce the risk of disruptive behavior.
