Easyjet fined £60k for discrimination against disabled passengers

PA

Easyjet has been fined £60,000 by a court in Paris - for refusing to allow three disabled people to fly.

The passengers, all paraplegics, have spoken of their 'humiliation' after they were barred from boarding Easyjet flights at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport in 2008 and 2009.

At check-in, they were each told that they could not fly because they did not have a carer with them.

The no-frills carrier justified its decisions by claiming there would be a "safety risk". It claimed that under European law, they are entitled to refuse unnaccompanied disabled people because of the threat to security.

Disabled Karine Viera told the Daily Mail: Easyjet is sacrificing handicapped passengers in the name of profit.

"We were barred simple becaue our presence means they run up extra costs because cabin crew have to do extra work to look after us."

Only last week, a Cambridge buisnessman who is paralysed from the chest down has spoken of feeling "degraded" and "demeaned" after he was thrown off a flight for being disabled.

Dr Martin Sabry, who founded a technology company and is a frequent flier with several airlines, told local newspaper Cambridge News how he was escorted off his flight and left on the walkway after a crew member humiliated him in front of other passengers because he was unable to walk.

Easyjet managers have apologised profusely for the incident.

The Disability Discrimination Act states that since July 2007, "it is illegal for an airline, travel agent or tour operator to refuse to allow a disabled person to board an aircraft when they have a valid ticket and reservation."

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