Edinburgh Airport has been reported to have the most incidents involving drunk passengers.
Over the past six years, police attended 337 alcohol-related incidents in Scottish airports. Edinburgh constituted 65 of these, while Glasgow accounted for 28.
Edinburgh’s figure of 65 is almost double its report from 2023, in which there were 33 cases.
A spokesperson for Edinburgh Airport said: “The reported incidents represent just 0.0004 per cent of the 15.8 million passengers who travelled through Edinburgh Airport in 2024, and 0.001 per cent of the 26.7 million passengers across Scotland’s four main airports during the same period.
“We work closely with Police Scotland and our Edinburgh Airport campus partners to maintain a safe and secure environment for all.
“These exceptionally low figures are a testament to the effectiveness of that collaboration.”
However, students expressed concern, with one telling The Student: “It’s always strange how many bars there are in Edinburgh Airport … like they’re expecting you to sit and get a drink.”
He suggested that the “strangely high amount of delays” might contribute to the culture, as well as the fact that bars are often the only establishments open for those boarding late flights.
Asked about policy changes, he said that “either keeping the other stores open longer, or closing the bars at the same time as the other stores” would help.
While food is served at some of these places, there are no restrictions on the bars within them.
Deputy chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland said: “Airports and aircraft are currently exempt from licensing legislation, which is designed to control how, where and when alcohol is sold …
“At the very least, we should be bringing airside alcohol sales into the licensing system.”
“Edinburgh Airport 1” by Ad Meskens is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.