Major airlines are charging some disabled passengers double to fly from the UK, according to research carried out by the BBC.
The organisation reported that nearly 30 carriers contacted during the study said passengers with mobility problems must purchase a full-price ticket for a personal care assistant (PA).
The report said that this comes despite Civil Aviation Authority guidance on EU law, maintained by the UK post-Brexit, urging airlines to subsidise the cost.
Disabled people with mobility issues responded by saying the situation is discriminatory.
BBC News said it contacted more than 100 airlines in total, including all that fly from Heathrow, to find out how many insist on a PA and whether they offer a discount.
Among the findings were:
• Only Pakistan International Airlines offers PA discounts for both international and domestic travel
• A total of 28 airlines confirmed that they require passengers with mobility problems to purchase an additional PA ticket at full price – including major airlines Emirates, Etihad Airways, American Airlines and Virgin Atlantic, as well as budget airlines such as Easyjet, Ryanair, Jet2 and Eurowings
• A further 40 carriers, including Turkish Airlines and Delta, list either a recommendation or mandatory requirement to travel with a PA on their website, but do not clearly set out how much it costs, nor whether the individual or the airline should pay
• Some airlines in Australia, Malaysia, Canada and India offer concessions for domestic flights only, and Aegean said it examines requests on a case-by-case basis
• The remaining 33 airlines either did not reply to the BBC’s request, had no information listed or stopped operating prior to publication
Disabled travellers told the BBC of the problems they experienced, with some saying that many avoid flying because of the issues.
Chris Wood, founder of the Flying Disabled campaign group, told the BBC more legislation was needed because the current advice was just “guidance, not the law”.
He added that what the rules should be and what travellers want are “two different things”, and that airlines should show “a little bit of empathy”.
He said some airlines are “great”, but they all “need guidance”.
