Iberia Collaborates with Special Needs Group to Ease Travel by the Disabled

• A form on iberia.com facilitates communication with call centre.

• On-line check-in service now available to all special needs passengers.

 

Iberia is collaborating with a Spanish NGO supporting people with special needs, to make it easier for them to travel.

In recent months the Spanish airline has introduced a number of innovations on the advice of the NGO, known as the Spanish Confederation of Physically and Organically Disabled People (COCEMFE). These include:

• Information about procedures and regulations on the new “Passengers with Special Needs” page of the iberia.com website.
• Special needs passengers are now asked to specify their needs or limitations when booking their flights, enabling the airline to deploy whatever services are needed.
• The on-line check-in service now allows wheelchair-bound passengers to arrange to be met by Iberia ground staff at the check-in counter two hours before flying time.
• Depending on the fare paid, reduced-mobility passengers now have a wider choice of seats aboard the aircraft, though they may not be seated near emergency doors, and those in narrow wheelchairs must use aisle seats.
• Special needs passengers can now fill out a form on the iberia.com website to facilitate contact with the call centre without cost.

 

In addition, Iberia is training staff in how to deal with and lend assistance to special needs passengers.

Iberia and COCEMFE have agreed to monitor the travel experience of special needs passengers with a view to making further improvements, and to propose changes in aircraft design to accommodate such passengers.

 

About COCEMFE

The Spanish Confederation of Physically and Organically Disabled People is a non-profit NGO founded in 1980 to promote the full inclusion and active participation of special needs people in every sphere of society, via the promotion and defence of their rights, along with the coordination, representation, and actions of its associative movement. It encompasses a total of 91 national, regional, and provincial bodies and more than 1,600 associations.