Japanese airline forces disabled passenger to crawl up stairs to board plane

Japanese airline forces disabled passenger to crawl up stairs to board plane | Secret Flying

Japanese airline, Vanilla Air, have apologised for forcing a disabled passenger to crawl up a flight of stairs to board the plane.

 

Hideto Kijima, who is paralysed from the waist down and uses a wheelchair, was told by Vanilla Air staff to climb the stairs to board his flight with no assistance from the flight crew or fellow passengers.

 

The decision left Mr Kijima with no other choice than to physically drag himself up the steps with his arms.

 

Although at the time the airline’s staff insisted that the rule was for safety reasons, Vanilla Air have since apologised for causing Mr Kijima “that hardship.”

 

The budget airline, which is affiliated with All Nippon Airways, has promised it will make arrangements for disabled passengers at all the airports they use.

 

Coincidentally, Mr Kijima heads the Japan Accessible Tourist Center, a non-profit watchdog for disabled passengers.

 

In a blog post, he said although he’d had difficulties in boarding planes in some airports before, this experience was in a league of its own.