Ryanair to challenge wheelchair ruling

The no-frills carrier Ryanair is reportedly to challenge a ruling that it discriminated against a wheelchair-bound customer by charging him to use a wheelchair at Stansted airport. As reported, 54-year-old Bob Ross was charged £18 to be wheeled from the check-in desk to his flight, and argued in court that the service should have been provided for free. He was awarded more than £1,000 in compensation and the decision led to Ryanair imposing a charge on all passengers to cover the cost of providing extra help for wheelchair users. Now, according to Sky News, Ryanair has taken the case to the Court of Appeal, stating that Mr Ross did not book a seat as a wheelchair passenger – and that the £18 was not paid to the airline. The cost of providing the wheelchair service was almost twice the price of Mr Ross’s ticket, the carrier pointed out. A spokesman is quoted as saying: “Ryanair strongly believes BAA, the world’s most profitable airport operator, should provide wheelchair assistance free of charge.” He added that the carrier was appealing because it wanted BAA to “accept its responsibility to disabled passengers”, rather than because it had a dispute with the passenger. Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad Ltd