The agreement reached by the EU Institutions on the enforcement of EU passenger rights leaves those with disabilities unprotected.
The EU Institutions reached a provisional agreement on 25 June on a raft of changes to passenger rights, focused on enforcement, multimodal transport and targeted changes to air passenger rights (on top of those agreed on 15 June).
However, unlike the previous agreement on air passenger rights, this new law misses crucial provisions to ensure transparent information on assistance provided to persons with disabilities.
This means that transport companies won’t be obliged to disclose discriminatory cases regarding:
- denied boarding to persons with disabilities
- denied transport of assistance dogs and mobility equipment
- mishandled mobility equipment
- accompanying persons imposed to persons with disabilities
- disability related complaints
This decision means that authorities will not have systematic data on the services that transport companies provide. This information would have helped them better enforce passenger rights, as passenger complaints to these authorities are generally low, as shown by EDF research.
We do note a small improvement: airlines requiring persons with disabilities to travel accompanied for safety reasons will have to provide a ticket free of charge to the accompanying person. This clarification, which is one of our demands, will bring passenger rights in air transport in line with other transport modes. However, passengers already travelling with an accompanying person (such as a personal assistant to help with their needs) will still have to pay an extra ticket.
Gunta Anca, President of the European Disability Forum, said:
“This law was a wasted opportunity to shed necessary light on the discrimination we face while travelling. I am very disappointed that, once again, all the burden to enforce passenger rights will be put on passengers with disabilities.”
Additional Information
- EDF 9th Human Rights Report ‘Rights Delayed: Air Travel for Passengers with Disabilities’.
- 2023 report ‘End the nightmare: Passengers with disabilities deserve to travel by air’
- Press release on original proposal ‘Passengers with disabilities “grounded” by proposed Passenger Rights Package’
Contacts
André Félix
Communications Manager – European Disability Forum
Daniel Casas
Accessibility Officer – European Disability Forum
Additional stories
“The price is also a problem, because the accompanying person is usually not free, which means that I have pay double the price for a trip.”
Passenger with a physical disability (Germany)
“I purchased a ticket and was approved to fly with an assistance dog. Afterwards, they cancelled the approval. Then they approved and cancelled again. I never know if I will lose money or will actually be able to fly.”
Passenger with a chronic condition (Lithuania)
“When disembarking, I have to wait for the assistant and very often they are delayed for a long time (because of this, I was nervous whether I would make it to the transfer, and sometimes I lost the transfer). Therefore, I have to choose tickets with a longer transfer, which reduces my choice and makes the flight more difficult.”
Passenger with a physical disability (Poland)
“If I have the choice, I prefer to travel by train or private car over plane, even if the journey takes longer. Despite having certain rights as a passenger, there are still so many physical barriers: I can’t travel on my wheelchair, I need to spend lots of time liaising with air carriers to make sure they allow the wheelchair on board, I have to seat for hours on uncomfortable seats, I can’t use the bathroom on board and I need to buy an extra ticket for my personal assistant. Most of these barriers do not exist in other transport modes”
Passenger with a physical disability (Germany)
“After the landing, we have to wait for the assistance to come (I’ve sometimes waited for more than 1 hour) and we have to hope that our wheelchairs have not been damaged. If they have been damaged, it ruins our trip and we go through several months of hardships (paperwork, reduced mobility and independence, etc) until we can get our custom-made devices replaced.”
Relative of a passenger with a neurodevelopmental disability (Malta)
“In Lisbon, I was placed in a corridor for 3 hours waiting for the plane, with no access to toilets, water or food and no way to contact the assistance who had left me there.”
Passenger with a physical disability (Portugal)