Will I be arrested at Dubai airport if I drink alcohol on my flight?

Have a question? Ask our expert Simon Calder

It’s sensible to only drink a modest amount when flying to the UAE (Getty/iStockphoto)

Q I have read that should I board a flight bound for Dubai and have a wine or beer, I could be arrested at Dubai airport for drinking alcohol. I wondered if you could confirm such a story?

David G

A One pleasure for many airline passengers, after all the airport stress has been left behind, is ordering an in-flight beer or gin-and-tonic. And possibly, after that, a glass of wine. But there are strict rules against being drunk on an aircraft, for good safety reasons. As the Civil Aviation Authority says: “Drunken and abusive behaviour on an aeroplane is totally unacceptable. Not only does it upset everyone else, but it can also jeopardise flight safety.”

The destination country may also have its own laws on drunkenness. The Foreign Office says of the United Arab Emirates: “It is a punishable offence to drink or be under the influence of alcohol in public. Passengers in transit through the UAE under the influence of alcohol may also be arrested.”

The case you have heard about involved Dr Ellie Holman from London and her daughter, who were detained on arrival in the UAE for a visa infraction. One headline read: “Ellie was jailed in Dubai for drinking a glass of wine on a flight from London.” And Dr Holman told the Daily Mail: “I enjoy a glass of wine with my meal and accepted it from the cabin crew. That was the only alcohol I had on the flight.”

She also said she was breathalysed several hours after she was taken to a police station for questioning over a visa infraction and taken to a police station. The result, said Dr Holman, showed she had 40 milligrams of alcohol for every 100 millilitres of blood – half the drink-drive limit in England and Wales. This assertion was widely quoted as “proving” she had consumed only a single glass of wine on the plane.

Yet alcohol breaks down at a predictable pace. Data on alcohol-metabolism rates provided by the NHS suggested Dr Holman had consumed a glass containing an entire 750ml bottle of wine along with her meal.

The UAE authorities turn a blind eye to many infractions by tourists, such as the ban on sharing a hotel room with someone of the opposite sex to whom you aren’t married or closely related, and the ban on homosexuality. The same goes for alcohol consumption. Many of the 10,000 or so passengers from the UK who touch down at Dubai every day will have consumed more than a single glass of wine during the seven-hour journey, and breeze straight through immigration or on to their connecting flight. But the Foreign Office says that arrests can happen “in cases where they have come to the attention of the police for a related offence or matter, such as disorderly or offensive behaviour”.

On any flight to Dubai, it is advisable to consume only a modest amount of alcohol during the journey and behave politely on arrival.

Every day our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder