Abusive passengers could be blacklisted from all airlines under new proposal

Abusive air passengers could be put on a national blacklist and prevented from flying with any airline under a new government proposal.

The scheme would allow airlines to share information on disruptive passengers and potentially restrict their access to flights.

Rowdy, problematic and drunken behaviour spikes during the busy summer travel period. Currently, if a passenger is banned by one airline, they can potentially book with another.

"Everyone should be able to enjoy a pint at the airport, but antisocial behaviour on flights is totally unacceptable," a government source told the BBC. "It threatens the safety of passengers and crew, and disrupts hard-earned holidays."

Officials from the Department for Transport will meeting with airlines this month to discuss how the proposal could work.

The national database could be co-operatively managed by the government and the airline industry.

If implemented, the move would not require any changes in current law, though it is not clear how the plan would work under current data protection - or GDPR - rules.

At the moment sharing of passenger details is not allowed under GDPR, so a disruptive passenger, if banned from one flight, could book with another.