Travelling with a disability or reduced mobility: assistance by air, rail, coach and ferry

Air notice also covers the return flight if both flights are contracted with the same carrier. The rail regulation allowed Member States to extend the notice to 36 hours only until 30 June 2026; ask the railway you will use what its notice period is today.

• No refusal on grounds of disability: a carrier may not refuse a reservation or a ticket, or refuse to let you board with a valid ticket and reservation, because of a disability or reduced mobility. Tickets must be offered at no additional cost.
• Free assistance: at the airport, the station, the coach terminal or the port, and on board, without an additional charge. At airports the managing body is responsible for it; on aircraft the carrier is.
• An escort or an assistance dog: an assistance dog is accepted (air: where the country has notification rules, notify under them). Whether you may be required to travel with an escort differs by mode, below.
• Information: on request, rail operators must give information on the accessibility of stations and rolling stock and the facilities on board.

For flights, Your Europe states that your recognised assistance dog, your medical equipment and two pieces of mobility equipment travel free of charge.

A refusal is allowed only on narrow grounds: to meet safety requirements set by law or by the authority that certified the operator, or because the size of the vehicle, ship or door, or the design of the infrastructure, makes boarding or carriage physically impossible or not safely or operationally feasible. Disability alone is never a ground.

On the safety ground a carrier by air may require you to be accompanied by an escort capable of providing the assistance you need. By coach you may ask to bring an escort of your own choosing, who travels free of charge; by ferry an escort can be required only where strictly necessary; on trains a required escort travels free.

If you are refused by air, the carrier must make reasonable efforts to propose an acceptable alternative, and you and any escort are offered reimbursement or re-routing. Reasons must be given immediately and, on request, in writing within 5 working days (air and rail).

Air, rail, coach and ferry each say the same thing in slightly different words: the airport managing body, the railway, the coach carrier or the port must make all reasonable efforts to provide the assistance. On a train, assistance at a station is free where trained staff are on duty; where no trained staff are available, the obligation is limited to reasonable efforts to let you travel.

Each regulation makes the carrier liable and entitles you to compensation, but they differ. Air: compensation in accordance with international, EU and national law, with no fixed amount stated in the regulation. Rail: the cost of replacement or repair plus the reasonable cost of temporary replacement, which must be provided quickly. Coach: replacement or repair cost, and temporary replacement where necessary. Ferry: liability where the loss or damage results from the carrier’s or terminal operator’s fault or neglect (fault is presumed after shipping incidents), for the replacement value or repair cost.

• Coaches: the assistance rules apply to regular services with a scheduled distance of 250 km or more. Below that, the ban on refusing a ticket because of disability still applies, but assistance is not required. Member States may also exempt some domestic services.
• Air: the full set applies at airports in the EU. For flights leaving a non-EU airport for the EU, only the right to travel and the refusal rules apply, and only if the carrier is an EU carrier.
• Ferries: services with a ship certified for up to 12 passengers, excursion and sightseeing tours other than cruises, and certain historic or non-mechanically propelled ships are outside the regulation.
• Rail: Member States may exempt some services; check your national enforcement body if you are on a local, regional or urban service.

For flights, the UK Civil Aviation Authority advises requesting assistance when you book, or at least 48 hours before departure, through your airline, travel agent or tour operator, and warns that without advance notice you may face delays or not receive the support you need.

In Great Britain, rail assistance is booked through Passenger Assist. The Office of Rail and Road states that since 1 April 2022 no more than 2 hours’ notice is required when booking through it, that the service must be booked in advance and that it is free.

1. 1Raise it at once with the airport managing body, the carrier or the station manager, and ask for the response in writing.
2. 2If you are not satisfied, complain to the national enforcement body. Your Europe points to the body of the country where the incident happened; for air, coach and ferry the competent body is set by the place of departure, and for rail by the licensing state of the railway — see the guide on complaints across borders.
3. 3Keep tickets, notification confirmations, photographs of damaged equipment and repair invoices.

Directive (EU) 2024/2841 creates a European Disability Card for short stays in another Member State. Member States have until 5 June 2027 to adopt the measures and apply them from 5 June 2028, and the Commission expects cards to be operational in 2028. The card does not create a right to assistance under the four regulations above.