European UnionRights of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility when travelling by air: reservations, safety rules in accessible formats and notifications at points of sale
Regulation (EC) No 1107/2006, Arts. 3, 4 and 6
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding private bodies.
As of .
What it requires
- If you are an air carrier, an air carrier's agent or a tour operator, do not refuse, on the grounds of disability or of reduced mobility, to accept a reservation for a flight departing from or arriving at an airport in a Member State, unless a refusal is needed to meet applicable safety requirements or the size of the aircraft or its doors makes embarkation or carriage physically impossible; if you refuse a reservation on either ground, make reasonable efforts to propose an acceptable alternative, inform the person immediately of the reasons and, on request, communicate them in writing within five working days of the request (Articles 3, 4(1) and 4(4)).
- If you are an air carrier or its agent, make publicly available, in accessible formats and in at least the same languages as the information you make available to other passengers, the safety rules you apply to the carriage of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility and any restrictions on their carriage or on that of mobility equipment due to the size of aircraft; if you are a tour operator, make those rules and restrictions available for flights included in the package travel, package holidays and package tours you organize, sell or offer for sale (Article 4(3)).
- Take all measures necessary to receive, at all your points of sale in the Member States, including sale by telephone and via the Internet, notifications of the need for assistance made by disabled persons or persons with reduced mobility; pass a notification received at least 48 hours before the published departure time to the managing bodies of the airports of departure, arrival and transit and to the operating air carrier at least 36 hours before that time, and any other notification as soon as possible (Article 6(1) to (3)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The body or bodies each Member State designates under Article 14(1) of the Regulation for flights departing from or arriving at airports situated in its territory
What it reaches
Instrument type
a regulation made under an act
Obligation class
Prohibition, Disclosure
Applicability criteria
The Regulation applies to commercial passenger air services on departure from, on transit through, or on arrival at an airport situated in the territory of a Member State (Article 1(2)).
- As of
- Combinator
- Any of
- Criteria
- an air carrier ("an air transport undertaking with a valid operating licence", Article 2(b)), or its agent
- a tour operator, for flights included in package travel, package holidays and package tours which it organizes, sells or offers for sale (Article 4(3))
What this law does
Regulation (EC) No 1107/2006 establishes rules for the protection of and provision of assistance to disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility travelling by air, both to protect them against discrimination and to ensure that they receive assistance (Article 1(1)).
It applies to disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility using or intending to use commercial passenger air services on departure from, on transit through, or on arrival at an airport situated in the territory of a Member State, and Articles 3, 4 and 10 also apply to passengers departing from an airport in a third country to an airport in a Member State if the operating carrier is a Community air carrier (Article 1(2) and (3)).
Article 3 bars an air carrier or its agent or a tour operator from refusing, on the grounds of disability or of reduced mobility, to accept a reservation for a flight departing from or arriving at an airport to which the Regulation applies, or to embark a disabled person or a person with reduced mobility at such an airport who has a valid ticket and reservation.
Article 4(1) allows such a refusal in order to meet applicable safety requirements or if the size of the aircraft or its doors makes the embarkation or carriage physically impossible, and requires reasonable efforts to propose an acceptable alternative when a reservation is refused on those grounds.
Article 4(4) requires the carrier, agent or tour operator to inform the person immediately of the reasons for a derogation and, on request, to communicate them in writing within five working days of the request.
Article 4(3) requires an air carrier or its agent to make publicly available, in accessible formats and in at least the same languages as the information made available to other passengers, the safety rules that it applies to the carriage of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility, as well as any restrictions on their carriage or on that of mobility equipment due to the size of aircraft, and a tour operator to make such safety rules and restrictions available for flights included in package travel, package holidays and package tours which it organizes, sells or offers for sale.
Article 6(1) requires air carriers, their agents and tour operators to take all measures necessary for the receipt, at all their points of sale in the territory of the Member States, including sale by telephone and via the Internet, of notifications of the need for assistance made by disabled persons or persons with reduced mobility, and Article 6(2) and (3) set when the information is to be transmitted to the airports and the operating air carrier.
Each Member State designates a body or bodies responsible for the enforcement of the Regulation (Article 14(1)), and a person who considers that the Regulation has been infringed may bring the matter to the attention of the airport managing body or the air carrier and, failing satisfaction, complain to that body (Article 15(1) and (2)).
Article 16 has the Member States lay down rules on penalties applicable to infringements of the Regulation, and says the penalties provided for must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive; the Regulation sets no amount. Articles 3 and 4 apply with effect from and the rest of the Regulation from , and the Regulation is binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States (Article 18).
When LexLint raises it
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