EU Commission Urged by Passengers with Disabilities to Enhance Air Travel Regulations

EU Transport Commissioner has been urged to reopen a regulation to improve the rights of people with disabilities who travel by plane.

The European Disability Forum, the European Passengers Federation and AGE Platform Europe have all renewed their appeals to the EU Transport Commissioner to reopen a Regulation to improve the rights of people with disabilities or limited mobility who travel by plane.

SchengenVisaInfo.com reported that these organisations sent a request to Adina Valerian, EU Commissioner for Transport. They asked her to amend the Regulation 1107/2006 adopted by the EU parliament in 2006.

The three organisations that advocated for the amendments emphasized that the most important changes should include eliminating denials of boarding based on disability or reduced mobility as well as the introduction of the right to fair compensation if an airline denies boarding to such individuals.

Organisations also suggest that an additional ticket should be provided free of charge to passengers who fall into this category and are required to travel in a group due to a disability.

EDF, EPF, and AGE demand that the EU commissioner ensure quality assistance to disabled passengers.

The organisations also want to change the law so that airlines are responsible for any damage or loss of mobility equipment. This is expensive and is currently treated as luggage.

Reduced Mobility Rights Limited has criticised the separation of roles between the managing authority of the airport and airline. This has left many disabled passengers without protection because of overlapping responsibilities and authorities.

The letter states that "Although we recognise the rationale and the relevance of the other topics brought up by the Commission during the consultation process and welcome appropriate measures in this respect, we also believe that any measure that aims to improve in a meaningful way the right to travel for persons with disabilities should address the concerns outlined in this letter."

Eurostat, Europe's Office for Statistics, has estimated that there are 87,000,000 people with disabilities in the EU. They are especially affected by unemployment or mistreatment as only half of those in this category have jobs, compared to three out of four people without disabilities.

Comparatively, only 17.8 percent of people without disabilities face poverty or social exclusion.

Source: schengenvisainfo.com