Airport assistance
Transport for All
Consumer body Which? recently published an...
Consumer body Which? recently published an article about the levels of assistance disabled travellers are receiving from UK airports.
Since 2008, the airports, rather than the airlines, have the responsibility of providing assistance from the car parks to the aircraft. Which? Travel said they had been contacted by members complaining of bad service, so decided to put these services to the test by sending four undercover passengers on internal UK flights.
Jenny, who flew from Gatwick with her guide dog, encountered a series of issues. She was met by an assistant with a wheelchair (Jenny has no mobility issues) and her guide dog was taken away from her during security checks. While waiting in the departure lounge, Jenny was given a bleeper to hang around her neck, and told to raise her hand when it went off. She couldn’t visit toliets or cafes, as she didn’t know where they were and Jenny’s dog wasn’t given the opportunity to go to the toilet before boarding.
Angela, a wheelchair user, flew into Heathrow. Although her travel experience was genearlly good, there were still a couple of issues. Angela booked her ticket online with BA, but couldn’t pre-book assistance online, so had to make a seperate phone call. She found it difficult to reach the the ticket machine and help buttons in the car park. Angela found signage to the speacial assistance offices at both Heathrow and Manchester airports extremely poor.
Sound familiar?
If you have experienced any issues with airport access or assistance services from any of the London airports, please get in touch and Transport for All will take up your complaint directly with the airport.
Call our transport helpline and speak to Youcef on 020 7737 2339 or email him at youcef@transportforall.org.uk
DOWNLOAD the Which? article in full.
