An MP has introduced a bill to ban violent airline passengers from flying.

Dartford’s Gareth Johnson introduced the Aviation Banning Orders Bill to Parliament on Wednesday in a bid to prevent disruptive and hostile passengers.

In January former Blue star Lee Ryan, from Chatham, was found guilty of racially abusing a black female cabin crew member on a British Airways flight.

During a trial it was revealed he had told her: “I want your chocolate children” and grabbed her by her wrists.

The aim of the bill is to give courts the power to ban people who are violent on a flight from all airlines for a certain amount of time.

It comes after the number of people reported for disruptive behaviour on flights has increased.

Between 2017 and 2019 the number of disruptive passenger reports were in the 300s, during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 this number dropped, only to rise in 2022 with airlines reporting 1028 disruptive passengers.

Gareth Johnson said: “I am introducing this bill to ensure people who are violent on airplanes can be banned from being a passenger for a period of time.

“At the moment violence is very rare, but if you introduce this legislation, this will make it even less likely to happen.

“It is right people can be banned from driving, they can be banned from being a company director and they can be banned from football matches.

“The same should apply for people who behave violently on planes. This power exists in other countries and should be available here too.

“This bill would act as a deterrent and ensure those who are violent, particularly towards cabin staff, cannot fly again until their ban expires.”

Mr Johnson said it would be up to the courts to determine the length of the ban.

He added: “At the moment an airline can ban a passenger from its company, but that doesn’t stop that person using a different airline. This is because airlines are not able to share passenger information due to data protection laws.

“This bill would ensure that a person is banned from all airlines. The message must be: If you are violent towards staff and passengers on an airline you are not going to be able to fly.”