Ban on airports and carriers charging disabled for help
By Bernard Purcell - Irish Independent - Thursday July 26 2007
AIRLINES and airports will be banned from charging for assisting disabled and elderly passengers under new EU rules. Airlines, airports and travel agents will now be obliged to ensure that would-be travellers with reduced mobility are afforded the same levels of access as the able-bodied. The airlines and airports now have a change-over period of a year until the new rules can be enforced.
The rules have three basic principles: equal treatment of persons affected by reduced mobility; free assistance in all EU airports; and free assistance on board. Regular wheelchair users and blind people can expect their chairs and guide dogs to be carried for free when the new rules - agreed by ministers and MEPs a year ago - are fully in force throughout the EU by no later than July next year.
In addition, the definition of restricted mobility has been broadened to include a whole spectrum ranging from the physically and intellectually disabled to the elderly and infirm, to those recuperating from surgery.
Until now airports and, mainly but not exclusively, the low-cost airlines have argued between themselves as to who must provide the facility and who should pay the cost, sometimes resulting in legal action by passengers. “Most airlines and airports do make genuine efforts to offer the necessary assistance but not all of them provide comprehensive assistance, free of charge,” said the Commission.
