Wheelchair trick adding to queues chaos at airports
AIRPORT queues are being made worse by passengers pretending to be disabled, Heathrow’s boss has said.
Chief executive John HollandKaye said users of social media app TikTok are recommending the ‘travel hack’ to beat the summer chaos.
It has sent demand for wheelchairs soaring above passenger numbers which remain down on pre-pandemic levels.
Much of the increase is suspected to be down to travellers pretending to be wheelchair users.
Disabled passengers can skip queues at security, use fasttrack lanes and get help through immigration, customs and baggage reclaim.
Mr Holland-Kaye said up to half of people who request wheelchairs fail to do so until they are on the plane. He
added: ‘Our total passenger numbers are about 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, but our demand for wheelchair use is about 110 per cent of prepandemic levels.
‘Of course it means someone who has booked a wheelchair because they have an absolute need might find someone has already taken their wheelchair who only booked it on the plane.
‘But you see this on TikTok that because people are concerned about it taking a long time to get through immigration, they’re advising people to book a wheelchair on the plane because that way they’ll be taken to the front of the queue.’
Mr Holland-Kaye said the trend is ‘not acceptable’ but added: ‘You can’t challenge whether someone has a disability or not.’
It comes after the Mail revealed last month that Birmingham Airport is having to buy more wheelchairs due to rising demand.
Thousands of flights have been axed in recent weeks and passengers have faced waits of several hours due to shortages of check-in staff and baggage handlers.