Air Malta is next week to review its policy on guide dogs on flights, but it will tomorrow allow Catia Lima, a blind 30-year-old Portuguese, to board a flight from Northern Italy to Malta with her guide dog Lee curled under her feet, an airline spokesman said.
The airline had originally intended to separate Catia from Lee, a five-year-old yellow Labrador. Lee was going to be carried in the aircraft's hold.
Roy Perry, press officer of the Malta Guide Dogs Foundation, told timesofmalta.com that despite an EU regulation on the carriage of assistance animals travelling by air, which came into effect last month, Air Malta had still not put into place operational procedures to allow this.
He thanked the airline for waiving the excess baggage charge that was to be applied and hoped that Air Malta would bring itself in line with the EU directive soon.
Brian Bartolo, Air Malta's general marketing manager told this portal that the directive quoted by Mr Perry was subject to national law, which said nothing on the matter. Therefore, the EU regulation was not binding on Malta.
Nonetheless, Air Malta acknowledged that this was a new reality and would be reviewing its operations to comply with the EU directive next week. In the meantime, it would be making an exception for Catia tomorrow.
Workers, Mr Bartolo said, would have to be trained and training was usually done in the winter.
He pointed out that the directive said that when a guide dog was travelling with a passenger, the airline had to be informed reasonably in advance and Ms Lima only booked her ticket on Wednesday.
Air Malta, he said, was all for collaborating with the Malta Guide Dogs Association, and had even assisted the organisation with five airline tickets for the purpose of training.
Mr Perry said that elsewhere in Europe Catia had been able to travel by air with Lee curled under her feet, in total comfort and safety.
He said the Malta Guide Dogs Foundation hoped that Catia’s stay in Malta would be a happy one and that she would be treated with respect and not discriminated against in any way. It was also hoped that she would be allowed access to all establishments, public transport and places of entertainment.