New rules adopted by the European Parliament mean that disabled air passengers will be able to travel around the European Union more easily.

Airports are now entirely responsible for assisting disabled people and the help must be free of charge and seamless. It has now become unlawful to refuse booking or boarding to a disabled person.

This legislation is pioneering because it is the first disability-specific legislation to be adopted at European level.

The new rules are based on three main principles:

• Disabled people will not be charged directly for assistance - the cost will be shared among all passengers
• No passengers should be refused a booking or denied boarding because of their disability
• Assistance must be uninterrupted from getting to the departure airport to leaving the airport at a passenger's destination
  

EDF president, Yannis Vardakastanis: "Discrimination towards disabled people does not only happen in the air sector. We still need more, better and comprehensive legislation to make sure that disabled people have access to all goods and services."