Air Travel

Equal opportunities for air travel

While the regulation mentions people with disabilities and people with reduced mobility, the scope of the legislation is such that everyone should have the same possibilities to travel by air.

People with vision impairments may need assistance at airports but they do not necessarily have reduced mobility. The regulation ensures that assistance is provided that is adapted to your needs, from the moment you arrive at the airport to your departure. This assistance shall be provided at no additional charge, by a person who has undergone disability awareness and equality training.

The highlights of the legislation

• People with disabilities and people with reduced mobility cannot be denied boarding or booking.
• Air carriers shall take all measures necessary for the reception of notification of the need for assistance.
• It will be the responsibility of the airport’s managing body to ensure that people with disabilities and people with reduced mobility have access to the assistance they require in order to make their flight.
• Passengers with disabilities or reduced mobility shall not be financially penalised for these provisions.

Exceptions

• There is a possibility to deny a person with disabilities or reduced mobility the opportunity to travel in order to meet applicable safety requirements or if the size of the aircraft or its doors makes carriage physically impossible.
• These safety reasons must be justified and the safety rules will be made publicly available in accessible formats.
• In the case of denied boarding or booking, the passenger shall be offered a reasonable alternative, reimbursement or re-routing. This also applies to companions.
• Air carriers may require that a person with a disability or person with reduced mobility be accompanied by another person who is capable of providing the assistance required. However, this provision was put in place to enable airlines to safely carry people with disabilities who are heavily dependent and who require intense and specialised assistance.

Your obligations

• You must have a valid ticket and relevant travel documents for your journey.
• You should give at least 48 hours’ notice of your need for assistance, which can be given at any of the points of sale of tickets. If advance notice is given, the airport’s managing authority will provide the assistance necessary to ensure that you make your flight. Without prior notification, they will make all reasonable efforts to provide assistance, but it cannot be guaranteed.

Responsibility of airports

The managing bodies of airports shall provide the assistance necessary to enable persons with disabilities and persons with reduced mobility to:

• Communicate their arrival at an airport and their request for assistance.
• Check in and register baggage.
• Proceed from the check-in counter to the aircraft, with completion of emigration, customs and security procedures.
• Board and disembark the aircraft, with the provision of lifts, wheelchairs or other assistance needed, as appropriate.
• Ground handling of all necessary mobility equipment, including electric wheelchairs (subject to advance warning of 48 hours and to possible limitations of space on board the aircraft).
• Communication of information needed to take flights in accessible formats.

Responsibility of airlines

• Carriage of guide dogs in the cabin, subject to national regulations.
• In addition to medical equipment, transport of up to two pieces of mobility equipment per person with a disability or person with reduced mobility, including electric wheelchairs (subject to advance warning of 48 hours and to possible limitations of space on board the aircraft).
• Communication of essential information concerning a flight in accessible formats.
• Assistance in moving to toilet facilities if required.

Watch a video about your rights

Download the European Commission’s video about passenger rights for people with a disability when travelling by air.
Read more on the European Commission’s website about passengers’ rights when travelling by air.

How it works at Irish airports

At Dublin, Shannon and Cork airports, a company called One Complete Solution (OCS) is in charge of providing assistance to passengers with reduced mobility.

If you need assistance, you are obliged to make a request through your airline or travel agent at least 48 hours in advance of your flight. The airline then gives OCS 36 hours’ notice that you will require assistance and what that assistance will be (wheelchair, sighted guide, etc).

Here you can find the location of help points at Dublin airport, the phone number for OCS, and where in the airport their office is situated: http://www.dublinairport.com/gns/at-the-airport/reduced-mobility.aspx

Once you arrive at the airport, you can notify OCS of your arrival at one of the help points, go straight to the OCS office or check-in with the airline and OCS will meet you there. OCS is then responsible for bringing you to the gate and for getting you on the plane if necessary. Airlines are only obliged to provide assistance on the plane, not in embarking or disembarking. Once you arrive at their destination you should be asked to wait on the plane and a member of OCS (or the airport managing body if outside Ireland) will come to the plane to assist you.

Train Travel

The European rail passenger rights legislation ensures that passengers with reduced mobility can travel in a way that is comparable to other citizens. Rail companies have to establish non-discriminatory rules for the transport of persons with disabilities and persons with reduced mobility, including, for example, older people.

Upon request, rail companies, ticket vendors and tour operators are also obliged to inform people with disabilities and people with reduced mobility about the accessibility of rail transport services and facilities on board.

Rail companies should also provide persons with disabilities and persons with reduced mobility with assistance on board, as well as during boarding and disembarking from a train, all free of charge. Assistance is provided on condition that the rail company, the station manager, the ticket vendor or the tour operator from whom the ticket was purchased is notified of the person’s need for such assistance at least 48 hours before the assistance is required.

Read more about passengers’ rights when travelling by train on the European Commission’s website.

Reserving seats on Irish Rail (Iarnród Éireann) trains

If you wish to reserve a seat, you can do this on www.irishrail.ie. Choose your origin and destination on the journey planner and then choose your train. When choosing your ticket, click on Reserve Seat, which costs €3 per journey. You must then get a ticket to travel using your free travel pass at the ticket office in the station on the day of travel.

If you prefer you can contact Irish Rail’s telesales team on 01 703 4070, who can assist you with making a reservation. This facility was introduced for customers who already have a ticket to travel, e.g. free travel, return ticket, annual ticket, etc.

If you have difficulty locating your reserved seats you can ask in advance to be shown to your reserved seat by a customer service staff member. Alternatively, when reserving your seat you can specify ‘first window seat on the left as I enter the third carriage on the train’, for example, so that you can locate the seat easily.

To avoid sitting in seats which have been reserved by other people (when you have not made a reservation, and are just looking for a free seat), there are also a couple of options. The first is to ask in advance to be brought to an unreserved seat on the train by a customer service staff member. The second is to walk along the platform to the very last carriage, where it is not possible to reserve seats, and sit on any seat that is not already occupied.