The Guardian - Amelia Hill

As campaigners highlight how the burden of travel chaos is falling on disabled passengers, five people describe their recent airport indignities

Passengers with a disability or reduced mobility are legally entitled to special assistance when travelling by air, with airports and airlines required to provide help and assistance free of charge.

Recent experiences of disabled passengers, however, suggests that this support is not always available and cannot be relied on.

Suzanne Croft, a wheelchair user with muscular dystrophy, has said she was left “traumatised and humiliated” after special assistance was slow or nonexistent at two separate UK airports.

Croft was flying from Newcastle airport to London Heathrow in June when, she said, it took so long for airport assistance staff to assist her on to the plane that the flight was delayed for 90 minutes.

When she landed at Heathrow, Croft said, she was left waiting again to get off the plane. “The crew and captain of the next flight boarded and both captains were radioing for special assistance, but none was available.”

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