CAA and disability

To mark International Disability Day last week, the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) highlighted the progress that airports have made since the introduction of the regulator’s airport accessibility framework five years ago.

In a report for the period 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 the CAA notes that there has been a significant rise in the number of passengers requesting assistance at UK airports, with four million requests in the latest year. This is almost double the amount than was recorded in 2015. In total, UK airports have received more than 10 million assistance requests in the past five years.

Part of this effort has stemmed from the introduction of the Civil Aviation Authority’s accessibility framework, which ranks airports on their performance for passengers requiring assistance. The framework is a first of its kind globally and has overseen millions of pounds of investment made by airports toward improving consumers’ experiences.

These improvements are illustrated in the latest findings from the Civil Aviation Authority, which show that for the second year running, no UK airport has been ranked as ‘poor’ for their accessibility services provided to passengers living with a disability. The report covers the period from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020, mostly the period prior to aviation being significantly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

This year’s report also shows that 15 airports have been classified as ‘very good’, with a further 13 classified as ‘good’. No UK airport has been ranked as ‘poor’ for accessibility services.  Three airports have been listed as requiring improvements, though this is due to the robustness of how the data was provided to the Civil Aviation Authority during reporting rather than due to direct concerns over assistance services.

The past five years have shown significant achievements made by airports across the UK, with notable improvements at Manchester Airport, which has jumped from a ‘poor’ rating in 2018 to a ‘good’ rating this year.

www.caa.co.uk

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