Facilities at airports for PWDs

Posted on 3 January 2013 - 05:26am
Last updated on 3 January 2013 - 09:53am

Elly Fazaniza
newsdesk@thesundaily.com

PETALING JAYA (Jan 3, 2013): The government is drafting a code of practice for airports and airlines to accommodate persons with disabilities (PWDs).

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) told theSun recently that once the code is approved, it would be implemented as a standard practice to facilitate services rendered to PWDs.

MAHB in a statement said the transport committee for the disabled, set up by the Transport Ministry to draft the code, consists of PWDs stakeholders, associations, airlines, MAHB and agencies under the ministry.

The committee has conducted audits on the accessibility of facilities for PWDs and has held a series of meetings with the relevant stakeholders, and also site and ground inspections of all PWD-friendly facilities provided by airports and airlines.

However, the outcome of the audit and discussions have yet to be revealed.

MAHB said this in a response to a Dec 25 article in theSun on an audio recording of an exchange between a budget airline ticketing officer and an activist, posing as a wheelchair-bound passenger, that went viral online.

The officer told the activist that although assistance would be provided for him to reach the aircraft, he would have to embark and leave the aircraft on his own, and that wheelchair-bound passengers must inform the airline 48 hours before departure for the necessary arrangements to be made.

MAHB said if an aerobridge is not provided, airlines would provide an ambulift (a vehicle used to lift a disabled passenger) to assist their passengers.

While it is not mandatory for airports to have the facility, it is "preferable" for aircrafts to have aerobridges (which they can rent from the airport) under the International Standards and Recommended Practices Annex 9 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation under chapter 8 (G) on facilitation of the transport passengers requiring special assistance.