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Aviation and Shipping

Information for disabled people with regard to travel by air or sea plus information for people working in these industries on how they can improve their services to disabled people.

Access to aviation and shipping is governed by international laws and standards. Since 2007, European law has given rights to disabled people when travelling by air. This will ensure a consistent and seamless service from airlines and airports across Europe. Similar European law protecting disabled people when travelling by ship is expected in the future.

The UK Disability Discrimination Act 1995 applies to air and sea travel in relation to the use of booking services and airport or port facilities and services. The actual means of transport - the aircraft or ship - is exempt from the Act's provisions. So, for example, shops and check-in facilities in the airport or port are covered by the Act, but on-board services or entertainment are not.

Aviation

Shipping

Help accessing downloadable file formats

Most publications are available in portable document format (PDF) or rich text format (RTF) for downloading and reading offline. PDF files may only be compatible with the latest version of the free Adobe Acrobat Reader .

People with visual difficulties may find it useful to learn about improving the accessibility of Acrobat documents at the Adobe Accessibility Resource Centre .

For information about RTF and zip files please visit help with downloads.

If you are unable to access a publication, please contact us to organise a suitable alternative format.

For related documents, pages and internet links, see the column on the right.