HAVE you shared your holiday flight with a drunk passenger? Apparently, most of us have.

According to the Institute of Alcohol Studies, 60 per cent of those asked have had to fly alongside drunken travellers. In fact, there has been a rise in disorderly incidents on planes by 600 per cent in the past six years.

Now, the Civil Aviation Authority is calling for more prosecutions against violent and drunken airline passengers. There are also to be more warnings about inebriated passengers and the possibility of far heavier fines – as much as £80,000.

It’s illegal to be drunk on a flight but, as many nervous fliers recognise, having a drink or two for “Dutch courage” has become the norm. Some people just take it to the extreme. This year up to mid-July, there had been more than 200 incidents reported, with more than 417 complaints last year.

Licensing laws preventing the sale of alcohol outside permitted hours don’t apply at UK international airports. But, perhaps surprisingly, according to official figures, only a minority – 24 per cent – actually drink alcohol at the airport with just two per cent having four drinks or more.

It’s prohibited to drink your own alcohol on flights, including any Duty Free, and cabin crew have the right to refuse to serve any passenger at their discretion.

The reality, though, is that more travellers than ever are arriving at UK airports already drunk. They may be doing this out of sheer nerves but I think it’s more likely that they start their holiday at home - and that includes lashings of alcohol if they want to.

Unfortunately, alcohol doesn’t always make for sleepy, affable drunks and many who drink too much are loud, violent and quick to take offence. Pity the poor cabin crew – and the rest of the passengers. This behaviour not only affects the safety of the plane but everyone else’s flight experience and is simply unacceptable.

So what can be done? Ryanair is urging airports to ban the sale of alcohol before 10am and for a maximum of two drinks per boarding pass. Plainly, though, the problem isn’t automatically in the airports but in a selfish drinking culture.

Staff can look out for people boarding who have had one too many and can stop them flying. What definitely needs to happen is more prosecutions, heavier punishments and a recognition that our drinking directly affects others.