Heathrow scores poorly in treatment of disabled passengers

 Disabled passengers arriving at Heathrow Airport are being forced to wait up to two hours for assistance disembarking aircraft, the aviation regulator has revealed.

The west London hub is one of four airports where the service for wheelchair users and other disabled passengers was judged to be “poor” by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Manchester, East Midlands and Exeter were the other airports where attention to accessibility was found to be lacking, and a survey of almost 1,200 passengers who use Heathrow’s assistance service found that 62 per cent rate it as “poor” or “very poor”.

The CAA recorded instances of passengers not being met on board arriving aircraft and not being treated with “dignity and respect”. On some occasions passengers were encouraged to make their own way through the airport because of a lack of staff or equipment.

Heathrow said in a statement that it was “extremely disappointed” with the CAA’S findings, apologised to customers affected by the poor service and pledged to address the issues.