Edinburgh Airport Disability Service Rated as 'Very Good'

Edinburgh Airport’s passengers with disabilities or reduced mobility service has been rated as ‘very good’ marking a huge turnaround over the past two years.

In its accessibility report, industry regulator the Civil Aviation Authority, noted considerable improvement in the service following a rating of ‘poor’ two years ago.

The report considers areas such as customer satisfaction, waiting times for assistance and their ongoing engagement with organisations representing disabled travellers.

The service at Edinburgh Airport was used by almost 88,000 people in 2017, up from 70,000 in 2016, and the airport has continued to invest in and improve the service, including:

• investment in our fleet, including 2 Ambu-lifts, 3 minibuses and 1 avi-ramp which improves our arrivals service and passenger experience.
• the introduction of a mobile app for passengers with reduced mobility and hidden disabilities to personalise the assistance they receive
• trialling innovative wheelAIR chairs to cool the back and reduce the user’s core temperature by taking away excess heat and moisture
• engaging with a range of passengers that need assistance through our passenger forums to ensure their voice is heard when designing our service and new building work
• becoming the first airport in Scotland to achieve an Autism Friendly Award in recognition of the accessible and supportive environment created for autistic passengers

Chief Executive of Edinburgh Airport, Gordon Dewar said, “We have placed greater emphasis on the PRM service over the past two years and to achieve a ‘very good’ rating is testament to the hard work put in by everyone involved.

“It’s been a long journey to turn the service around and we tackled that head on, investing more time, staff and funds into a service that we feel is crucial for our passengers and one we take pride in. But the most crucial aspect has been directly engaging with disabled passengers who have that lived experience, so we can listen, learn and implement changes that they have told us will improve the service.

“From technology to training, we’ve made a range of changes, big and small, to make the overall experience better for passengers and that is a continual process. We’re happy with where we are but we always strive to do better, so we’ll use this rating to drive that forward.”

Antony Marke, group managing director of OmniServ, said, “We are delighted that Edinburgh Airport has achieved a ‘very good’ rating from the CAA. Over the last two years, OmniServ and Edinburgh Airport have collaborated to ensure that we provide PRM services of the highest standards and a reflection of the values of both companies. Our work won’t stop here. OmniServ will continue to make investments in our people, equipment and the latest technology to enable us to deliver a highly satisfactory customer experience.”