455 cases of unruly behaviour by air travellers since 2016: Jayant Sinha

The govt is in the last stages of finalising the rules on the no-fly list

A total of 455 cases of unruly behaviour by air travellers have been reported since 2016, the Lok Sabha was informed today.

"A total of 294 and 161 incidents took place in 2016 and 2017 respectively," Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said in a written reply.

Two Members of Parliament (MPs) were recently barred from by the domestic carriers from flying after they allegedly assaulted and abused airline staff in two separate incidents.

The ban on them was subsequently revoked by the airlines.

Following once such incident, where Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad allegedly hit an Air India ground staff "25 times" with slippers earlier this year, the government was forced to prepare draft rules for a no-fly list comprising unruly passengers.

As per the draft rules, a passenger could be barred from flying for three months to an indefinite period for an act of misdemeanour.

The government is in the last stages of finalising the rules on the no-fly list.