All airlines in South Africa have facilities to accommodate disabled passengers, including passengers who have difficulty embarking and disembarking for the flight, as well as passengers in wheelchairs who require assistance in getting from the check-in desk to the aircraft. However, the online booking process often does not provide an option for selecting such services, which is why we have put together this handy guide on how to book a flight for a disabled passenger.
Most airlines require the passenger to complete a form after making the booking to confirm the nature of the assistance required. For most airlines, the form must be printed, completed by hand, signed, and e-mailed to a specific e-mail address for approval.
The one aspect which can pose a challenge, is that airlines generally limit the number of disabled persons who can be accommodated as assisted passengers per flight. For instance, FlySafair only accommodates 2 assisted passengers per flight.
What this means is that after booking your tickets, when applying for assisted passenger status, there is uncertainty regarding whether you will get approval, as other passengers may have applied and obtained approval before you, filling up the 2 spaces on the flight.
The best way to guard against a situation where you are unable to get assisted passenger approval after booking, is to call the airline’s call centre before finalising the online booking, and enquire regarding whether any assisted passenger applications have been processed for the flight in question. The booking can then be finalised as soon as confirmation of this is received from the call centre.
FlySafair also has an assisted passenger request application form on their website which can be completed and submitted electronically (i.e. without physically printing or signing the form), but users have experienced problems with the process, as the electronic forms are not always received and processed by FlySafair. It is preferable to print out the forms, complete them by hand, and e-mail them to the airline.
It is also a good idea to follow up on the processing of assisted passenger applications that have been submitted, by calling the call centre well before the departure date. This assists in avoiding a disastrous situation where, upon arriving at the airport, it turns out that the necessary arrangements have not been made for the passengers to have assistance at hand.
