Crackdown on unruly airline passengers begins next month following rule change

Passengers who make trouble on international flights face swifter prosecution from next year when a new amendment to a global treaty comes into effect. Incidents involving unruly passengers are less frequent but have become more serious, according to a study by an international airline trade group two years ago which found that 60% of on-board crimes went unpunished. The problem stems from a 1963 agreement among 186 countries, known as the Tokyo Convention, that gave jurisdiction over prosecuting an unruly passenger to the nation where the plane is registered. That means that a passenger who gets drunk and belligerent on an American Airlines flight to France can be prosecuted only in the US, where American Airlines is registered, not in France, where the plane lands. Last week, Nigeria joined 21 other countries to ratify an amendment to the Tokyo Convention, giving the amendment the necessary support for the change to go into effect January 1. The amendment allows countries where the plane lands to prosecute a troublemaker on an international flight. “Everybody on board is entitled to enjoy a journey free from abusive or other unacceptable behaviour,” said Alexandre de Juniac, CEO of the IATA. “But the deterrent to unruly behaviour is weak.” The necessary 22nd nation to ratify the amendment came on November 26 when the secretary general of the ICAO, Fang Liu, accepted the endorsement of the amendment from Nigeria. “The protocol addresses the issue of rising incidents of unruly and disruptive behaviour on board aircraft by significantly improving the ability of [countries] to expand jurisdiction over relevant offences and acts to the [countries] of landing and the [country] of the operator,” Liu said in a statement. <br/>