An airline is zooming in on disruptive and abusive behaviour by banning the sale of alcohol on its planes before 8am.

The action by Jet2.com comes after last week’s warnings that UK airports are becoming a “wild west” thanks to round-the-clock availability of alcohol.

The company has first-hand experience of unruly passenger behaviour. It has just fined a passenger £12,000 after he was found guilty of “abusive and aggressive” behaviour on a flight from Leeds Bradford Airport. The passenger, who “illicitly” drank alcohol he had brought on to the flight, was also banned from the airline for life.

Phil Ward, managing director of Jet2.com, says: “We have decided to follow up very quickly on my comments made last week, by taking positive action to allow the millions of customers and families who fly with us to travel with confidence and have a great experience with Jet2.com.

“We believe that stopping sales of alcohol before 08:00BST on our morning flights is an effective way to ensure everyone has an enjoyable and comfortable journey. We understand that we’re the first of the European airlines to take this bold step and call upon industry partners in airports to also trade responsibly.”

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Lord Ahmad, the new British minister for aviation, has said he wants to “look at” the fact that airport pubs, bars and restaurants can sell alcohol 24 hours a day because they are not subject to licensing laws.

In an interview, Lord Ahmad said: “I don’t think we want to kill merriment altogether, but I think it’s important that passengers who board planes are also responsible and have a responsibility to other passengers, and that certainly should be the factor which we bear in mind.”