From the BBC:
“Heathrow rated poor over access for disabled passengers”
Heathrow Airport has failed to meet minimum standards for
disabled passengers over the past 12 months, the aviation regulator says. The
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) rated accessibility at the airport as "poor"
for April-June 2022 and "needs improvement" for July 2022-March 2023.
The disability charity Scope said passengers were being "let down". Heathrow
Airport said it had a "strong plan" in place to improve and that it
is now meeting targets. Disability equality charity Scope is calling for
tougher rules, meaning airports would be fined for failing disabled passengers.
Heathrow is the UK's busiest airport, serving almost 61.6m
passengers last year, according to the CAA. The findings have been announced as
part of the regulator's Airport Accessibility Report, which assesses efforts at
26 of the UK's largest airports to provide disabled passengers and those with
mobility problems a standard of service they are entitled to. The report
highlighted a 50% increase in the proportion of Heathrow passengers using its
assistance service compared to 2019 levels, and added the airport was serving
more people who required assistance than ever before. Assistance includes
wheelchair provision, access to accessible toilets and moving disabled people
onto and off aircraft. Among other airports evaluated in the report, 18
consistently achieved a "good" or "very good" rating for
the 2022-23 period including Belfast International, Cardiff, East Midlands and
Edinburgh.
'Let down' Charlotte Morley, of the disability equality charity Scope,
said the report's findings are "a world away from the reality for disabled
passengers who are still being let down far too often by the air
industry". "Far too many disabled people are left stranded on
planes when assistance doesn't arrive on time, or land to find expensive
wheelchairs have been damaged or lost on the way. Heathrow's chief operations
officer Emma Gilthorpe admitted the airport did not deliver an
"appropriate level of service for passengers requiring extra support with
their journey through the airport" last year. "I want to
reassure those passengers that we have put in place a strong plan which is
turning that around and we are now meeting service targets. "We are
also kicking off a £55m investment programme which will underpin the delivery
of consistently excellent service for this growing segment of passengers."
The CAA's joint interim chief executive Paul Smith said it was
"important to acknowledge that there is still a way to go in providing a
consistently good service for disabled and less mobile passengers across the
industry". particularly for those with more complex needs, and throughout
the busier summer months". He added: "With 18 airports
consistently achieving good or very good ratings, and others demonstrating
significant improvements, the industry is making strides in returning
accessibility levels to those seen before the Covid-19 pandemic."
^ London's Heathrow Airport is one of the worst Airports in
the World that I have personally used with someone Disabled.
We went to different Terminals about 12 separate times
throughout the years and each time the experience has not been pleasant.
From the Special Assistance Area (in a dark, creepy and
smelly area) with no Employees and the Disabled and Elderly left abandoned to
Disabled Bathrooms that have their doors open into the Bathroom so you can't
shut the door while using the Bathroom to their being stairs and no elevator to
get to certain gates. Heathrow is just plain awful - especially for the
Disabled (and clearly nothing has changed for the better.)
I always tried to avoid Heathrow whenever possible and
continue to avoid Heathrow now even though I no longer have to be a Caregiver
to a Disabled Person. ^
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