Liverpool airport: Good and the bad

LIVERPOOL’s John Lennon airport is one of the best in the UK for disabled passengers, according to the industry’s regulator.

The Speke-based terminal is among 18 airports that have consistently achieved a good or very good rating throughout the past year, says the Civil Aviation Authorty’s annual access report.

However, within weeks of the report being published, a wheelchair user missed her 6am flight to Dublin from Liverpool – despite arriving early and asking for special assistance.

Joanne Vasey, 38, said: “We were told to go the gate and someone would be there to help. The assistant said ‘don’t worry, the plane can’t go without you’.”

When the flight did go without her, she was offered another from Manchester airport, but was told she would have to pay for both transport to the airport and another plane ticket, which would be reimbursed as a later date.

Joanne said: “If I was able-bodied, this wouldn’t have happened. It puts you off doing anything. I’m annoyed and hurt.”

A spokesman for ABM airport management services at Liverpool airport said: “We understand the importance of the special assistance service we provide, and we regret that on this occasion, Ms Vasey’s experience did not meet that standard.”

Meanwhile, the CAA report also said London Heathrow was the only airport to be classed as poor and in need of improvement.

RATED good or very good: Aberdeen, Belfast City, Belfast International, Bournemouth, Cardiff, City of Derby, Cornwall Newquay, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Glasgow Prestwick, Inverness, Liverpool, London City, Newcastle, Norwich and Southampton.