Travellers with disabilities can help improve accessibility in the UK
air travel industry by acting as researchers in an investigation into how
well travel agents, tour operators, airports and airlines deal with people
with disabilities.
The probe is sponsored by the Department for Transport, which wants to
find out how well the industry is adhering to the new Access
to Air Travel for Disabled People Code of Practice.
Berkshire-based research company TRL
(Transport Research Laboratory) is conducting the investigation and it
wants first-hand accounts of the difficulties and experienced by travellers
with disabilities.
Project manager Lorna Pearce said that those who agreed to help out with
research would not be burdened with paperwork.
“We have tried to make the response from disabled travellers as easy a process as possible,” she said.
“We’re not sending people out with pads of paper and long forms to fill in. Instead, we will ring them up before they go and tell them what we would like them to look out for and then ring them back when they return from their trip to see how they got on – no form filling.
“We are not asking people to do anything they would not normally do when booking a trip or flying.”
Any traveller with a disability who would like
to take part in the review process can contact TRL researcher Catherine
Inwood on 01344 770610