Alcohol sales may have boomed during lockdown, but our return to air travel will be an altogether more sobering experience.
Airlines including Easyjet and KLM in Europe, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines in the United States, and Asia's Virgin Australia, are suspending all or part of their alcoholic drinks service in response to Covid-19.
It's part of a widespread revision of the industry's food and drink service to minimize interaction between crew and passengers and to ensure a safer journey for all.
With face masks already mandatory on pretty much all flights around the world, and new legislation introduced in January 2020 to curbanti-social behavior on flights, it's another in a line of barriers -- literal and legal -- to getting high in the sky.
Many airlines are limiting drink options to water only. As face masks must be kept on other than when passengers are eating and drinking, it's a way of ensuring passengers are lingering over their refreshments for no longer than necessary.
Europe
British low-cost airline Easyjet resumed domestic routes across the UK and France on June 15, alongside a handful of international routes.
While customers can bring food and non-alcoholic drinks on board, at the beginning the only refreshments on offer will be water, which has to be requested from the crew. Food service will resume gradually in coming months.
The crew will manage use of toilet facilities -- so it's for the best that passengers aren't knocking back the Guinness and G&Ts.
Virgin Atlantic will be issuing passengers with "Health Packs," complete with face masks, surface wipes and hand gel. It too is temporarily removing alcohol on board.