Korean Air prevented a drunken Russian passenger from boarding one of its flights after he created a scene on a previous flight, according to the airline Saturday.

The passenger had flown to Incheon International Airport from Vladivostok International Airport in first class on a Korean Air flight Friday, planning to transfer at Incheon to Singapore‘s Changi Airport.


On the first flight, the passenger had two glasses of wine and created a scene on the second flight when flight attendants refused to serve him any more alcohol. 

Using the discretion provided by the Aviation Safety and Security Act, Korean Air asked the passenger to disembark from the plane. The process created about a 20-minute delay in takeoff.

This is just the second time that Korean Air has disallowed a passenger from taking a flight due to inebriation. The first action was taken against a Korean man named Lim, whose drunken and violent outburst in business class on a flight from Hanoi, Vietnam, to Incheon was made public on social media by American singer Richard Marx, who was on the same flight.

Although Lim has since been taken into custody by police, the Russian passenger did not face any charges. A spokesman for Korean Air told The Korea Herald that the airline “chose not to take any further measures because (the passenger) had simply gotten into an argument with flight attendants and had not caused damage or become violent.”

The spokesman said that it was not yet decided whether the passenger would be barred from future flights on Korean Air. At a recent press conference, Korean Air President Chi Chang-hoon had stated that a specific set of guidelines for measures against unruly passengers was in the works, but gave no indication as to when the manual would be finalized for use.

The passenger took another flight to Singapore the next day with a different airline. By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)