Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps his Department has taken to encourage airlines to (a) improve accessibility on flights for passengers with disabilities, (b) improve the on-board flight experience for passengers with disabilities and (c) reduce discrimination against people with disabilities within the aviation industry.

Air travel should be accessible for everyone. The Department is working with the sector and consumer groups to ensure that disabled passengers and those with reduced mobility have the confidence to travel by air and the assistance they require.

The Department published the Aviation Consumer Policy Reform Consultation in 2022 to seek views on a variety of consumer rights issues, including reforms to the compensation available for damage to wheelchairs and mobility aids on domestic UK flights, and to explore other possible reforms to support passengers with accessibility needs better. The Department is analysing the responses and will set out next steps in due course.

The Government appointed the Disability and Access Ambassador for Airports, Ann Frye OBE, in July 2021. Her role is to improve accessibility and the quality of services and facilities for disabled people at airports.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is responsible for enforcing consumer laws that apply specifically to aviation, including in relation to accessibility. On 25 April 2023, the CAA published a consultation on a new performance framework for airline accessibility which closes on 21 July. The CAA published an additional interim report on airport accessibility in December 2022. It continues to monitor performance and has set clear expectations for further improvements and for airports to provide high-quality service this year. It will publish its normal annual report this summer.

The CAA has previously written to airports informing them that the experience passengers received in 2022 was unacceptable, required several airports to put in place action plans together with airlines, and published additional guidance for airports on assistance services.