Unruly passengers on planes on the increase, industry body calls for prosecution

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Unruly passenger incidents have increased and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is calling on countries to take the necessary steps to prosecute them. 

IATA finds the increasing trend of unruly passenger incidents worrying, according to Conrad Clifford, IATA's deputy director general. IATA's latest report on reported incidents of unruly passengers, released at the airline industry body's 79th annual general meeting and summit in Istanbul on Sunday, shows there was one unruly incident reported for every 568 flights in 2022, up from one per 835 flights in 2021. 

The most common types of incidents in 2022 were non-compliance, verbal abuse and intoxication. Non-compliance incidents initially fell after mask mandates were removed on most flights, but these began to increase again during 2022, and ended up 37% more compared to 2021. 

The most common types of non-compliance were smoking of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, vapes and puff devices in the cabin or plane toilets, failure to fasten seatbelts when instructed, exceeding the carry-on baggage allowance or failing to store baggage when required, and the consumption of own alcohol on board. 

Although physical abuse incidents remain very rare, they increased about 61% during 2022 compared to 2021, occurring once every 17 200 flights. IATA calls on governments make sure the necessary regulations are in place to prosecute unruly passengers. Furthermore, awareness campaigns about the consequences of unruly behaviour could help to educate the public.