Access abroad denied for travellers with disabilities

7 September 2007

The travel industry isn’t doing enough to help travellers with disabilities, reveals Holiday Which? magazine.

In an investigation of the biggest airlines, airports and tour operators, Holiday Which? discovered a lack of awareness about the needs of people with accessibility requirements, as well as a lack of information which would help them travel abroad.

Information on all of ‘the big four’* tour operators’ websites and brochures was inadequate. With the exception of First Choice, customer service staff were poorly informed and none of the operators guarantee to meet any disability requirements.

All of the airlines** Holiday Which? spoke to asked passengers with a disability to notify them of requirements before travelling - using a premium rate number. Charter airlines, in particular, gave insufficient and contradictory information.

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic fared better at meeting the requirements of deaf and hard of hearing travellers. Between them they supplied a textphone number, aircraft induction loops, subtitled entertainment videos and cabin crew with sign language skills.

American Airlines, Ryanair, Thomas Cook Airlines and Thomsonfly have the worst websites for partially sighted people since text size can’t be changed. Thomas Cook Airlines, Thomsonfly and First Choice Airways also charge a fee to travel with an assistance dog***.

Monarch airlines won’t allow passengers with certain mental health problems – for example schizophrenia - to fly with them at all.

Lorna Cowan, Editor, Holiday Which? magazine, says:

“Airports and airlines have made a lot of progress in recent years, but our investigation shows that there is still a lot of work to be done before foreign travel is truly accessible to everyone.

“What should be simple - clear information and accessibility - is still a huge problem. Many people with disabilities continue to rely on their own willpower to make sure their holidays happen.”

Notes to editors

For further information, a PDF of the full report, or an interview with Holiday Which?, contact Nicole Sheinman.

Holiday Which? is a subscription-only holiday magazine published 4 times a year by Which? For details on how to receive 2 issues of Holiday Which? for £3, telephone 01992 822800 or visit which.co.uk

* The ‘big four’ tour operators refer to Airtours, First Choice, Thomas Cook and Thomson.
** Holiday Which? spoke with the 10 biggest airlines:

American Airlines
British Airways
Easyjet
First Choice Airways
Monarch
My Travel Airways
Ryanair
Thomas Cook Airlines
Thomsonfly
Virgin Atlantic

*** By July 2008 new EU Laws mean that transport providers won’t be allowed to charge extra fees for an assistance dog.

---

Press releases, papers and documents published on this page are the intellectual property of an organisation unrelated to Central Lobby. We promote their parliamentary and political campaigning activities as they are subscribers to the Central Lobby service.

As such, Central Lobby does not edit, endorse, or attempt to balance the opinions expressed on this page. The content of press releases and other such types of content are the responsibility of the originating organisation.