Nguyen Tan Doan (Ho Chi Minh City) is a person with a disability who needs to use air services, and he has asked for guidance on support for people with disabilities when boarding and disembarking from aircraft.
Mr Doan comes from Quang Nam province and works in Ho Chi Minh City. He has a disability in his leg and must use crutches. During the Tet holiday just past, Mr Doan bought a return air ticket from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang with Vietjet Air, a type of ticket for which the airline’s staff assist passengers when boarding and disembarking.
However, on the flight from Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City, staff at Da Nang Airport told him: “if you can board the aircraft by yourself by shuttle bus or through the air bridge, the airline will let you travel; otherwise you must have someone accompanying you to take you onto the aircraft, as the airline’s staff will not assist you”. After Mr Doan said that on the flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang he had received assistance from the airline’s staff, the staff checked the return booking code, and only then was Mr Doan taken onto the aircraft by staff and helped off in Ho Chi Minh City.
Mr Doan now has work that requires him to return to his home province. He has contacted Vietjet to find out about support for people with disabilities, but each time he contacts them he receives a different answer. Mr Doan asks: If they need to travel by air, what procedures must people with disabilities follow to receive support when boarding and disembarking from aircraft?
The issue raised by Mr Doan was commented on by the Ministry of Transport as follows:
Services for people with disabilities are regulated in legal documents. Specifically, under Clause 2, Article 145 of the Civil Aviation Law of Viet Nam 2006 on the carrier’s obligations towards people with disabilities, “airlines must care for passengers, especially passengers who are people with disabilities or need care during transport”.
Clause 2, Article 14, Chapter III of Decree No. 28/2012/ND-CP dated 10 April 2012 of the Government, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on People with Disabilities, states that “public transport operators are responsible for arranging equipment, tools and staff to assist passengers with disabilities in boarding and disembarking from vehicles conveniently. The assistance plan must be announced at stations and passenger pick-up and drop-off points in easily visible places”.
Articles 5 and 8, Chapter III of Circular No. 26/2009/TT-BGTVT dated 28 October 2009 of the Ministry of Transport, on air transport and general aviation activities, also specifically regulate the registration of the conditions of carriage of Vietnamese airlines, the airline’s obligations in the event of delays, cancellations, interruptions of carriage, refusal of carriage, and the carriage of special passengers.
Under the above regulations, airlines and public transport operators must arrange equipment, tools and staff to assist passengers with disabilities.
However, the Tet period is a time when many flights are served at once, and many other passengers with disabilities and limited mobility also need support, while the general infrastructure of airports is still limited; necessary equipment (lifts, apron wheelchairs…) of the ground service companies has not been fully provided. Therefore, the lack of sufficient vehicles and equipment to serve passengers with disabilities has caused frustration.
The Ministry of Transport has taken Mr Doan’s comments seriously and will direct VietJet Air Joint Stock Company to strengthen its qualified workforce and work closely with the Airports Corporation of Viet Nam and ground service companies to improve infrastructure and service equipment, in order to provide the best quality of service for passengers, especially passengers with disabilities who need assistance.
Chinhphu.vn