Originally Posted by
Littlegirl
The point is that there is an agreement between BA and HMRC and that is that only the champagne can be used prior to take off. Normally tax free goods cannot be consumed until you are airborne but BA have an agreement and most likely pay duty on a specific amount of Champagne in that agreement.
BA have recently sent out a reminder to all crew that any other alcoholic bar stocks cannot be used. It is a shame but unfortunately as an airline we have no choice but to adhere to the rules. If we don't, they may say we can't even serve the champagne, which would be even more of a shame!
It is similar to pubs that serve drinks after time, it's against the law but some pubs do it and some get caught and lose their licence to sell alcohol. Of course people can ignore the rules but it is not the kind of thing a public limited company would encourage or condone. Acting within the UK law is something that most UK companies strive to do.
I've known the HMRC to be as inflexible as possible on somethings and I had to fight them to avoid a fine which I thought I had already dealt with. They were threatening to send 'Arry and the boys round (a local law firm) to 'extract' payment and it took me a few letters/calls to explain that I wasn't supposed to be paying. Another family member got a letter saying they were going to be on the receiving end of a Full Audit from HMRC because they had forgotten to tick one box on a form.
So yes BA if were caught serving drinks where no agreement exists with HMRC then they could lose the whole agreement and then it could be water only on board before take off or higher ticket prices to cover the increased cost.