Four UK airports failing disabled passengers
Four of the UK’s largest airports are failing to provide adequate access for disabled travellers, according to a report by the Civil Aviation Authority.
London Gatwick, London Stansted and Birmingham are all failing to meet expectations but the worst offender is Manchester, rated as ‘poor’ for the second year running.
The CCA’s annual report into accessibility at 30 UK airports found levels of satisfaction had improved overall, with 16 said to be ‘very good’, up from only six last year.
Its study found 83% of people requesting assistance are ‘satisfied’, with 54% of those being ‘very satisfied’.
Heathrow has improved from its ‘poor’ rating last year to ‘good’ this year while Edinburgh has gone from ‘poor’ two years ago to ‘very good’.
The report said Manchester’s problems were focused on ‘long waiting times for assistance and issues with the recording and reporting of performance data’.
In some cases, passengers had been left waiting for assistance for more than an hour.
It said Manchester had acknowledged its shortcomings and had begun to implement an improvement plan, while London Gatwick, London Stansted and Birmingham were also taking action to resolve their issues.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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