Regulation (EC) No. 1107/2006 gives the right to people with reduced mobility to equal opportunities when opting to travel by air as other citizens.
This regulation prohibits operators from refusing reservation or boarding to people because they need special assistance when travelling.
Airport operators and airlines are legally obliged to provide free assistance to people with reduced mobility or who have a disability and thus require help to complete their journey.
Such help should be provided when passengers arrive at their point of departure and, if required, can cover:
• their journey through the airport;
• boarding the aircraft;
• the time on board the aircraft during the flight;
• disembarking from the aircraft;
• transferring between flights at an airport;
• travelling through the destination airport.
Helping people with reduced mobility should also include, where applicable, the transport of wheelchairs and the carriage of guide dogs for the blind.
EU legislation stipulates that people with reduced mobility have the right to carry two pieces of mobility equipment free of charge.
If there are justified safety reasons established by law, or if the size of the aircraft makes it physically impossible to embark a person with reduced mobility, an air carrier may refuse to accept a reservation from the person, or to embark the person on the flight, or may request that the person is accompanied by another individual.
If there is a safety reason or the aircraft doors are too small, the airline should try to find another way of getting the air passenger to their destination. If this is not possible, then the passenger should be entitled to a refund if they have already paid for the flight ticket.
When a reservation is refused because the air carrier cannot provide assistance to a person with reduced mobility, the airline must inform the concerned person in writing within five working days and explain the reasons why it cannot provide help.
Online booking forms should have sections which a traveller with reduced mobility can fill to give the airline notice of the help they are likely to need.
When booking flight tickets over the phone or face to face, travellers should make sure that they get confirmation that they need assistance in writing. This is necessary to have proof that they made a special request for help if such help is not provided and they want to take the matter further.
Travellers with a disability should first check with the airline what kind of help it can offer before making a reservation.
It is also the traveller’s responsibility to inform the airline of their special needs at least 48 hours before they fly so the airline can make arrangements.
The regulations stipulate that travellers with reduced mobility should be allowed to book seats which meet their particular needs.
If the airline does not pre-book seats, these people should be allowed to board the aircraft before other passengers.
Passengers with reduced mobility who are denied their rights according to the regulation can file a complaint and request redress.
Such complaints should first be addressed to the defaulting airport or airline.
If no agreement is reached, then an official complaint should be made with the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority, this being the national enforcement body for the implementation of the law’s provisions in Malta.
odette.vella@mccaa.org.mt
Odette Vella is senior information officer, Office for Consumer Affairs, Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority.