Ryanair accused of ‘profiteering’
Ryanair says airports, not airlines, should provide wheelchairs
Ryanair has been accused of “blatant profiteering” over plans to add 50p to ticket prices to cover the cost of supplying free wheelchairs at airports.
The airline was ordered to provide free wheelchairs after being sued for discrimination by a disabled passenger charged £18 to use one at Stansted.
Labour’s Lord Carter, who heads a committee examining the Disability Discrimination Bill, made the charge.
He said the actual cost of the service at Stansted was only about 2p a ticket.
However, Lord Davies of Oldham said it may be the case but there was nothing the government could do.
Legal change
He said fares were “entirely a matter for individual airlines” and Ryanair was, in any case, not a UK firm.
Former Tory cabinet minister Lord Forsyth of Drumlean added: “If the British Airports Authority can afford to provide free parking for MPs, surely they can afford wheelchairs for disabled people.”
Lord Davies said current law limited airlines’ responsibility for disabled people to the time when they were actually on an aircraft.
This would be changed by the Disability Discrimination Bill.
Ryanair said it would need to introduce the 50p charge after Bob Ross, a community worker from London, sued the company.
A court ruled Mr Ross, who has cerebral palsy, had been discriminated against after being charged for the use of a wheelchair.
Ryanair vowed to appeal against the decision and said it was the airports’ responsibility to provide wheelchairs
By: batbay - 11th February 2004 at 21:45
Ryanair did not supply the wheelchair. BAA did not provide the wheelchair. The wheelchair was supplied by a third party service provider who charged Ryanair £18 for the service. Ryanair, having taken £10 from the customer in fares, passed the wheelchair charge on to the customer.
I don’t support Ryanair, but do understand that they feel they have a case for arguing that BAA should have paid for this service.
By: Jeanske_SN - 11th February 2004 at 20:16
If you pay airport taxes, I think the airport should pay fot it. there’s maybe just 1/500 passengers that ask a wheelchair. Airport tax is around €20. 500 passengers pay €20=€10.000. I estimate that the cost of providing a wheelchair (without making profit on it) is €15. Now we calculate how much this costs per passenger. (10.000/15)x100=0.15 cents!!! Paying this is EASY. Just increase everything with a fraction, like landing fees, the rent that companies pay to have a store in the terminal. Even just adding the 15 cents only to the taxes wouldn’t affect the demand, neither the supply.
Have I proved now that Ryanair are really money-grubbers!?
By: Hand87_5 - 11th February 2004 at 17:57
I don’t understand how FR dares to do that. That’s disgusting !
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February 11, 2004 at 5:34 pm