Disabled passenger abandoned on a plane at Manchester airport for over two hours
A disabled passenger who was abandoned on a plane at Manchester airport for more than two hours, before having to phone the police to help get him through border control, has said it felt like being held “hostage”.
Daryl Tavernor, 33, who has spinal muscular atrophy, has called for a review of the airport’s services for wheelchair users. He and his carer were trapped on the aircraft after their Ryanair flight from Rome early last Thursday morning. After finally being taken off the aircraft at 4.40am, they then faced another hour’s wait to get through the abandoned border control area and was only let through after calling the police.
Tavernor’s ordeal, which left him “physically bruised and emotionally drained” comes after a string of similar problems for wheelchair users at UK airports. He said the long delays being experienced by thousands of passengers at UK airports due to staff shortages are an all too common occurrence for those in wheelchairs.
Speaking to the Guardian he said: “For general passengers, staff resources at airports are now a big issue, but for disabled passengers in the UK it’s always been an issue and it’s getting worse.”
Manchester airport said it was “sorry to hear that Mr Tavernor had a disappointing experience”, but it has offered him no apology or response to a detailed complaint.
The airport outsources its special assistance service to a company called ABM. It also expressed regret but no apology.
Tavernor, who is from Stoke-on-Trent and works in digital marketing, said: “Manchester airport need to review that contract. Either they’re trying to run it on a shoestring and can’t improve the service because of the budget or they just have not scaled up staff numbers after the pandemic.”
He said services
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