Drunken air rage is putting passengers and staff at risk - union

Police were forced to remove passengers from a recent Edinburgh to Tenerife flight

A "deeply concerning" increase in air rage incidents is putting flight staff and passengers at risk, a union has warned.

Two Ryanair flights from Edinburgh to Tenerife have been disrupted in the past week, with one of the flights forced to stop in Portugal after fighting broke out on board.

One witness described scenes on her flight as "insane" and said that those involved behaved "as if they were on another planet."

Ryanair said both matters had been passed on to local police.

Passenger Hannah MacDonald was travelling to Tenerife from Edinburgh when the dispute broke out on the plane.

In footage shared on social media, two men and a woman are seen screaming, trying to fight each other and then threatening people who tried to intervene.

She told the BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "It was as if they were the only people on their flight, their surroundings didn’t matter. It was insane.

"They were very drunk, it was as if they were on another planet."

The two flights left from Edinburgh Airport

On 25 February a Ryanair flight on the same route suffered a two-hour delay after being forced to stop in Porto to remove a group of rowdy passengers.

Earlier this week, the Scottish Sun reported that a builder from Aberdeen avoided jail after pleading guilty to two counts of harassment of staff on a British Airways flight from Miami.

Travel experts and unions have expressed concern over passenger behaviour.

Pat McIlvogue, an industrial officer with the Unite, told BBC Scotland that they have raised concerns with airlines and airports across Scotland.

He said: "The proliferation in incidents of anti-social behaviour and threats towards workers at airports and on flights is deeply concerning.

"It’s totally unacceptable that any worker has to confront threats of verbal or physical abuse, and the situation needs to be urgently addressed."

Travel writer Simon Calder said there had been a ‘worrying number’ of recent incidents.

He stated: "It seems as if drink fuelled air rage is back."

Mr Calder added that some airlines blame airports, for letting passengers begin drinking before boarding a flight.

A spokesman for Edinburgh Airport stressed that bar staff would not serve passengers they believe to be drinking to excess.

He added: "As an airport we have processes in place to deal with passengers who are disruptive and we work closely with partners, including bars, restaurants and police, to deal with any issues which arise within the terminal."

Decisions on allowing passengers to board the plane is the responsibility of airline staff.