A survey has found that a third of male travellers drink alcohol before a flight, and 23% of women.
And nearly half (48%) of the 1,000 Brits polled by Holiday Extras said they had witnessed drink-related incidents at the airport.
But, as airlines join together to crack down on bad behaviour on flights, Holiday Extras says its survey shows the profile of passengers who drink the most might come as a surprise.
"With the majority of recent disorderly passenger reports focusing on young people enjoying stag parties and destinations such as Ibiza, it would be easy to leap to the conclusion that this age group would be most likely to drink in excess.
However, this doesn’t appear to be the case," said a report by the holiday add-ons provider.
Its poll found 64% of young men aged 18-24 don’t drink any alcohol before a flight, and those within that age group who do drink (26%) said they limited their intake to just one pint of lager or a glass of wine.
Meanwhile, one in 10 professional males aged 25-34 admitted to drinking a minimum of eight units pre-flight.
Although females taking part in the survey claimed not to be drinking as much as the me, women aged over 65 admitted to consuming the most compared to any other age group for their gender.
These more mature ladies are four times more likely to drink in excess of eight units than the average Brit – male or female.
"While our poll is certainly not meant to point the finger at any particular group, it’s interesting to see that the big drinkers may not fall into the demographic that many will expect," said Ant Clarke Cowell, Holiday Extras communications director.
"We also saw that two thirds of people abstain from drinking anything before going on holiday – so, while any incidents of disorderly behaviour do need to be tackled, it’s an issue that most of us can hopefully avoid on our next break away!"
