Cabin crew of SAS, Norwegian Air for limiting alcohol sales to passengers

Cabin crew of Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) and Norwegian Air Shuttle have required that alcohol sales be limited at Norwegian airports and onboard planes, news agency NTB reported Monday.

Passengers who overconsume alcohol are a growing problem, they said.

"We see that passengers increasingly drink too much and are difficult to handle with. This threatens everyone's safety, " said Rene-Charles Gustavsen, union representative of Norwegian Air Shuttle's Cabin Crew Association.

Due to increasing alcohol abuse among the passengers onboard, the cabin crew asked for cuts in alcohol serving and better control of duty-free sales at airports.

The unions also asked for duty-free bags at departure sales to be sealed and called for a ban on duty-free sales of small bottles of spirits, the report said.

Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that the number of registered cases of passengers causing problems on Norwegian flights increased from 161 cases in 2017 to 254 cases last year.

Gustavsen believed the actual figure is far higher and that there is an under-reporting from the companies.

"We are in dialogue with the airlines and with the commercial representatives at the airport about whether measures will be introduced, but nothing has been decided, " said Joachim Westher Andersen, communications manager of Norway's state-owned operator of civil airports Avinor.

Scandinavian Airlines, known as SAS, is the flagcarrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Norwegian Air Shuttle is a Norwegian low-cost airline and Norway's largest airline.