UK Aviation Industry Code of Practice on Disruptive Passengers
As an industry, we take the issue of disruptive passengers very seriously. While incidents of disruptive behaviour are rare, when they do happen the impact can have serious consequences for fellow passengers, employees working in the air and at the airport, as well as for the disruptive passengers themselves. To create a common, consistent approach that co-ordinates and enhances existing efforts to prevent and minimise disruptive passenger behaviour, the Airport Operators Association, Airlines UK, the Airport Police Commanders Group, the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) and the UK Travel Retail Forum (UKTRF) have joined together to create the UK Aviation Industry Code of Practice on Disruptive Passengers. This initiative is supported by the UK Government and a copy of the Code is available here.
The following AOA members are signatories to this Code:
- Aberdeen International Airport
- Belfast International Airport
- Birmingham Airport
- Bristol Airport
- Cardiff Airport
- City of Derry Airport
- Edinburgh Airport
- Glasgow Airport
- Glasgow Prestwick Airport
- Heathrow Airport
- Leeds Bradford Airport
- Liverpool John Lennon Airport
- London City Airport
- London Gatwick Airport
- London Luton Airport
- London Southend Airport
- Manchester Airports Group (Manchester Airport, Bournemouth Airport, East Midlands Airport and London Stansted Airport)
- Newcastle Airport
- Regional & City Airports (Exeter Airport, Norwich Airport and City of Derry Airport)
- Southampton Airport
The following Airlines UK members are signatories to this Code:
- easyJet
- Flybe
- Jet2.com
- Monarch
- Norwegian UK
- Thomas Cook Airlines
- Titan Airways
- Thomson Airways
- Virgin Atlantic
Code of Practice for airport retailers (VAT Relief Concession)
One of the benefits of travelling by air, is the retail opportunity in airports, where many shops operate VAT relief. To ensure greater transparency on how customers benefit from HMRC’s VAT relief concession for airport retailers, the Airport Operators Association and the UK Travel Retail Forum (UKTRF) have launched a Code of Practice for Airport Retailers. This industry-wide set of guidelines is available here and gives clarity to customers by requiring airport retailers to:
- Provide a clear explanation to all customers on if and how the VAT benefit is used; and on when and why customers are required to present boarding passes
- Report to the UKTRF on how they implement the Code.
The guidelines enshrine current best practice on VAT relief in airports and will be set out in-store and online. The initiative is endorsed by the AOA, whose airport members facilitate additional customer enquiries about the code. For more information on the Code and for a list of retailers that have signed up to the Code, please contact UKTRF.
