TUI adds major new alcohol policy from November 1

TUI adds major new alcohol policy from November 1 Economy passengers will continue to receive a complimentary beer or wine served with their main meal, but will now be required to pay if they want additional alcoholic beverages A carrier has changed its rules concerning alcohol on board flights, leaving passengers with mixed responses. TUI Airlines offers economy passengers up to three free alcoholic drinks on long-haul flights, but passengers will now have to pay for drinks from November 1. Customers will continue to receive complimentary soft drinks throughout their flight as well as a complimentary beer or wine served with their main meal. However, they will now be required 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. Passengers in the premium cabin will not be affected. Passengers took to social media to respond to the change. One Tiktok user said: "Good, I am glad. I sat on a 10-hour flight to Mexico last year, a wedding group of about 20 adults where absolutely pissed before even getting on. "TUI still served them for about 7 hours. I was fuming; it was like a flight to Ibiza with 18-year-olds." Another user said: "All alcohol should be banned from airports and aeroplanes, it causes too much trouble." Others were angered by the change, with one Tiktok user saying: "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." "Sadly, some people ruin it for everyone else." Earlier this year, Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary told The Times that airports should be banned from serving alcohol to passengers prior early flights to reduce disruption. A Ryanair spokesperson subsequently told Metro: "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. "Ryanair have several processes in place to manage disruptive passengers onboard, including crew’s discretion to limit the number of drinks permitted to be purchased inflight." Ryanair introduced a €500 fine for disruptive passengers in June 2025. Intoxication is a regular cause of trouble on aircrafts. Civil Aviation Authority statistics for 2019 showed that there were 390 occasions when airlines reported "difficulty in controlling intoxicated, violent or unruly passengers". 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.