Flying with reduced mobility: your rights in the UK and the EU

easyJet, Jet2, British Airways, TUI and Wizz Air ask for special assistance requests at least 48 hours before departure, through booking, the airline’s online account, phone or chat; Ryanair closes online requests at 48 hours, then its Assistance team takes them up to 12 hours before, and Virgin Atlantic asks for 72 hours. The legal trigger in UK and EU 1107/2006 stays at 48 hours. Below: each airline’s route and limits, then the law on cover, notice and free help, the Sunflower lanyard, the CAA’s airport ratings, refusals and a lost or damaged wheelchair.

Updated 20 Oct 2026·Sources checked 15 Sep – 20 Oct 2026·14 min read · 4 tables

#Which flights do the UK and EU assistance rules cover?

1 Regulation applies twice over: UK 1107/2006 covers any airport in the United Kingdom, and EU 1107/2006 covers any airport in an EU member state, both for disabled and reduced-mobility passengers departing, transiting or arriving there. Neither text limits itself to one nationality of carrier at those airports.

Source: UK 1107/2006 art. 1(2)-(4); EU 1107/2006 arts. 1(2)-(3), 18 — legislation.gov.uk; eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-22.

Both texts read the same at their core. UK 1107/2006 applies to disabled persons and PRMs “using or intending to use commercial passenger air services on departure from, on transit through, or on arrival at an airport” in the United Kingdom; EU 1107/2006 applies the same way at airports “situated in the territory of a Member State to which the Treaty applies.”

Both texts extend further for three specific duties. Articles 3, 4 and 10 (no refusal on disability grounds, and Annex II assistance) also reach some flights that start elsewhere. The UK text covers a flight from any non-UK airport to the United Kingdom if the operating carrier is a “Community air carrier or a UK air carrier”, and to an EU member state if it is a UK air carrier. The EU text covers a flight from a third country to an EU airport on a “Community air carrier.” Any other inbound flight sits outside that extension.

Article 1(4) of the UK text says it does not affect rights under the Package Travel Regulations 2018 or Regulation 261/2004, the rule UK261 carries in UK law. Your UK261 rights run alongside these assistance rules, not instead of them.

Check the airport of departure, transit or arrival against the two texts first; a flight never touching a UK or EU airport falls outside both.

#How do you book special assistance with easyJet, Ryanair, Jet2, British Airways, TUI, Wizz Air or Virgin Atlantic?

48 hours before departure is the cut-off easyJet, Jet2, British Airways, TUI and Wizz Air ask for. Ryanair stops online requests at 48 hours and its Assistance team takes later ones up to 12 hours before, within opening hours; Virgin Atlantic asks for 72. easyJet’s line is +44 800 2606686, Ryanair’s +44 20 3808 8855, British Airways' 0800 408 1100.

Source: Ryanair, easyJet, Jet2.com, Wizz Air and Virgin Atlantic help pages; British Airways disability-assistance pages and conditions of carriage clause 20; TUI assisted-travel page, FAQs and flight-extras page (airline policy, not law) — checked 2026-10-20; UK 1107/2006 art. 7(1), Annex II — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-22.

These deadlines are airline policy. The law sets one trigger: under article 7(1) of UK and EU 1107/2006, notice given to the airline, its agent or the tour operator at least 48 hours before the published departure time switches on the airport’s full assistance duty. Virgin Atlantic’s 72 hours is a request on top of that, so notice at 48 hours still meets article 7(1).

Every airline in the table wants you at the airport at least 2 hours before departure. easyJet asks for up to 3 hours at some airports, Virgin Atlantic 2 to 3 hours, British Airways 3 hours before a long-haul flight, and TUI 3 hours if you want help from a car park, taxi rank or bus stop.

Ryanair and Jet2 book airport help by level, with the same codes: WCHR, WCHS and WCHC, the last taking you to your seat in the cabin. Ryanair adds DPNA for a cognitive or non-visible disability. British Airways names three services instead: assistance to the aircraft, to the aircraft door including stairs, or to your seat with the on-board wheelchair. Within 48 hours of departure, TUI asks you not to use its online flight-extras form and to contact it directly.

Ask for written confirmation of the request and keep it, as the CAA advises; it is your proof of notice if help does not turn up.

#Why tell the airline your needs 48 hours before departure?

48 hours before your published departure time is when notifying the airline, its agent or your tour operator switches on the airport’s full duty of Annex I assistance. Without that notice, the airport still has to make “all reasonable efforts” to help you, just with less certainty of preparation.

Source: UK 1107/2006 art. 7(1), (3)-(4) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-22.

The 48-hour notice is a condition of the airport managing body’s full Annex I duty, not of the underlying right itself. Notify the carrier, its agent or the tour operator at least 48 hours ahead (this also covers your return flight with the same carrier). Miss that window, and article 7(3) still requires “all reasonable efforts” to assist you, though the outcome is less predictable.

Presence conditions apply either way: at check-in by the stipulated time, or “not later than one hour before the published departure time” if none is set; or at a designated point in the airport by the stipulated time, or “not later than two hours before the published departure time” if none is set.

This advance-notice clock is separate from the 48-hour warning that applies specifically to bringing an electric wheelchair, covered next; treat them as unconnected deadlines that share a number.

Notify the airline of your needs as soon as you book, and arrive at check-in or the meeting point on time; both protect the airport’s full duty to assist you.

#What assistance is free at the airport and on board?

2 pieces of mobility equipment per disabled passenger or PRM, electric wheelchairs included with 48 hours' warning, are carried without additional charge under Annex II of UK and EU 1107/2006, once you meet the article 7 notice and check-in conditions. Airport assistance is free as well; the airport may fund it through a charge on airlines, not on passengers.

Source: UK 1107/2006 arts. 8(1), (3)-(4), 10, Annex II — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-22.

Article 8 makes the airport’s Annex I assistance free “to disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility”; the airport may recover its cost through a charge on airlines, not on passengers. Article 10 applies the same “without additional charge” rule to the carrier’s own Annex II duties, once you meet the article 7 conditions.

Annex II lists what those carrier duties cover: in addition to medical equipment, transport of “up to two pieces of mobility equipment per disabled person or person with reduced mobility, including electric wheelchairs,” subject to 48 hours' advance warning and to space limits on board and dangerous-goods rules. Recognised assistance dogs travel in the cabin, subject to national rules; the carrier makes reasonable efforts on seating, on moving to the toilet, and on seating an accompanying person next to you.

The electric-wheelchair warning is its own 48-hour clock, separate from the article 7(1) notification above; give both if you use a powered chair, since one covers the airport’s assistance duty and the other covers what the aircraft can safely carry.

Give the 48-hour warning for an electric wheelchair in the same message as your assistance request, at booking, so both deadlines are met at once.

#Does the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower lanyard get you help at UK airports?

2016 is the year the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower launched at Gatwick, and the scheme now lists Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Stansted, Birmingham and Edinburgh among its UK airports. Wearing the lanyard is optional and tells staff you may need help or more time; the scheme says it does not automatically give priority access or fast-track services.

Source: Hidden Disabilities Sunflower (hdsunflower.com); Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Stansted, Birmingham and Edinburgh airport accessibility pages; Ryanair, easyJet, Jet2.com, Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and TUI help pages; CAA assisted-travel guidance and CAP3264 Edinburgh assessment — checked 2026-10-20.

The lanyard signals a need; it books nothing. The CAA calls airport identifiers such as lanyards and badges optional, and Gatwick points out that the lanyard reveals no personal details, so you still tell staff what you need. easyJet says flagging a non-visible disability at booking “does not arrange any other level of assistance.”

Manchester’s page is the only one of these to promise every security lane; Stansted rules out FastTrack, and Birmingham leaves boarding first to the airline and its ground handler.

Airlines answer differently, and an airline’s own page and the scheme’s airline list do not always agree: easyJet calls itself a member, yet the list leaves it out.

Wizz Air is not on the scheme’s airline list either.

Book the level of help you need through the airline at least 48 hours ahead as well, then collect the lanyard on the day; Manchester and Stansted will not post one.

#How does the CAA rate assistance at Heathrow, Gatwick and other UK airports?

19 of the 28 UK airports the CAA assessed for 2025/26 were rated “Very Good” for assistance and 9 “Good”, with none rated “Needs Improvement” or “Poor”. Gatwick, Manchester and Edinburgh are “Very Good”; Heathrow, Stansted and Birmingham are “Good”. The report, CAP3264, covers 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.

Source: CAA, Airport Accessibility Performance Report 2025/26 (CAP3264, first published August 2026), pp. 4-6, 9, 13-22; CAA accessibility reports page — caa.co.uk, checked 2026-10-20.

The ratings follow the CAA’s CAP1228 framework: waiting times for arriving and departing passengers, satisfaction surveys, and engagement with disability stakeholders through an Access Forum. A “Good” airport assists 99% of pre-notified departing passengers within 30 minutes of making themselves known at a designated point, and at least 97% of pre-notified arrivals within 20 minutes from “on chocks”. A passenger who gave no notice is measured against 45 minutes in both directions. “Very Good” lifts both arrival figures to 98% and the survey average from 3.5 to 4 out of 5.

The CAA rates airports only: its airline accessibility reports, begun in March 2025, have not been published. Demand keeps climbing, with 5.99 million passengers using assistance at UK airports in 2025 against 5.48 million in 2024.

Give notice through the airline at least 48 hours ahead whichever airport you use: on arrival, a pre-notified passenger is measured against 20 minutes from “on chocks”, someone without notice against 45.

#Can an airline refuse you because of a disability?

2 grounds are the only ones that let an airline refuse you under UK or EU 1107/2006: safety requirements set by law or by the authority that issued the airline’s air operator’s certificate, or the aircraft or its doors being too small to embark or carry you. Nothing else justifies a refusal.

Source: UK 1107/2006 arts. 3, 4(1)-(2), (4) — legislation.gov.uk; EU 1107/2006 art. 4(1) — eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-22.

Article 3 sets the baseline: an airline, its agent or a tour operator “shall not refuse, on the grounds of disability or of reduced mobility” to accept your reservation or to embark you, given a valid ticket and reservation. Article 4(1) lists the only two exceptions: safety requirements “established by international law or the law of England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland” or by the certificating authority, or where the aircraft’s or door’s size makes carriage “physically impossible.”

Under the safety exception, the carrier may require you to travel with an accompanying person. If you and any required companion are refused embarkation on either ground, article 4 gives you the right to reimbursement or re-routing under UK261/EU261 article 8, the same choice a denied-boarding passenger gets. Reasons must be given immediately, and in writing on request, “within five working days of the request.”

Ask for the refusal reason in writing on the spot, and note the time; the five-working-day clock for a written answer runs from when you asked, not from when you were refused.

#Who pays if your wheelchair is lost or damaged?

Article 12 of UK 1107/2006 promises compensation for a lost or damaged wheelchair “in accordance with rules of international law and the law of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland,” but names no figure of its own. The EU text points to international, Community and national law instead.

Source: UK 1107/2006 art. 12; EU 1107/2006 arts. 12-13 — legislation.gov.uk; eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-22; Montreal Convention art. 22(2), (5), 31(2)-(4) — MC99, checked 2026-09-15.

Article 12 sets the right, not the number: the passenger “shall be compensated” when a wheelchair or assistive device is lost or damaged while handled at the airport or carried on board. Where the amount comes from depends on the flight. On an international flight where the wheelchair travelled as checked baggage, the Montreal Convention's baggage limit applies: 1,519 SDR per passenger, unless you made a special declaration of interest. That limit does not apply if the damage came from an intentional or reckless act done with knowledge that damage would probably result.

Article 13 of the EU text adds a further protection: obligations to disabled persons and PRMs under the Regulation “shall not be limited or waived.”

Complain in writing and promptly. Montreal requires a written complaint “at the latest 7 days” from receipt for damage, or the right of action is lost. See lost or delayed baggage compensation and file a property irregularity report at the airport before you leave it; for flights within, to or from the US or Canada, the rules that apply are set out on disability rights on US and Canadian flights.

#What can you do if you are refused or left without help?

5 working days is how long the airline has to give written reasons for a refusal, on request, under article 4(4). If you are refused embarkation, article 4 sends you to article 8 of UK261/EU261: reimbursement within 7 days or re-routing, the same choice a denied-boarding passenger has. Being left without help has no such link.

Source: UK 1107/2006 art. 4(4); EU 1107/2006 art. 13 (no waiver); UK261/EU261 art. 8(1) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-22.

Two situations need telling apart. If you were refused embarkation under the article 4 safety or aircraft-size exception, you and any required companion get the article 8 choice under UK261 or EU261: reimbursement within seven days, or re-routing at the earliest opportunity or at a later date of your choosing. Ask for that choice in writing and keep the refusal message; it is your record for a written-reasons request.

If instead the airport or airline simply failed to provide the assistance you were owed, with no refusal in play, there is no article 8 route. The failure is a breach of the Regulation’s own duties, and article 13 of the EU text says those duties “shall not be limited or waived.”

Report the failure in writing to the airline or airport as soon as possible, and keep boarding passes, correspondence and any assistance-request confirmation. For a flight also cancelled or changed, see cancelled flight refund and voucher rules and the EU261 version.

General information, not legal advice. For your specific case: the airline or airport, Citizens Advice, or a solicitor.

#Sources

• Regulation (EC) No 1107/2006 as it forms part of UK law — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-22.
• Regulation (EC) No 1107/2006 — eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-22.
• Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 as it forms part of UK law, art. 8 — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-22.
• Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air (Montreal Convention 1999), arts. 22, 31 — checked 2026-09-15.
• UK Civil Aviation Authority, how to access help and support and accessibility reports, checked 2026-10-20.
• UK Civil Aviation Authority, Airport Accessibility Performance Report 2025/26, CAP3264, and the CAP3264 Edinburgh Airport assessment, checked 2026-10-20.
• Hidden Disabilities Sunflower, airports and airlines around the world and history, checked 2026-10-20.
• British Airways, how to request assistance, assistance available, assistance hub, contact us and General Conditions of Carriage, clause 20, checked 2026-10-20.
• TUI, assisted travel with TUI, neurodiverse FAQ and non-visible disability FAQ, checked 2026-10-20.
• Airline help pages: Ryanair, easyJet, Jet2.com, Wizz Air, Virgin Atlantic, TUI flight extras, checked 2026-10-20.
• Airport pages on hidden disabilities: Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Stansted, Birmingham, Edinburgh and its special assistance page, checked 2026-10-20.

#FAQ

How do I book special assistance with easyJet or Ryanair?

48 hours before travel is the latest point easyJet asks for: request at booking, in Manage Bookings or on +44 800 2606686, daily 08:00-20:00 local time. Ryanair takes requests online up to 48 hours before departure, then through its Assistance team up to 12 hours before, subject to opening hours, on +44 20 3808 8855 or free chat.