Glasgow Airport has received the highest ‘Very Good’ rating from the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) Interim Airport Accessibility Report.
The CAA has today (Tuesday 13 December 2022) published its annual report on the disability access of 16 of the UK’s largest airports by passenger numbers. The report covers the period from 1 April 2022 to 31 October 2022.
To achieve a 'Very Good' classification, airports must provide a consistent and high-quality assistance service during this period. Only six airports, which also included AGS Group’s sister airport in Aberdeen, achieved ‘Very Good’ for all periods of this report.
More than 90,000 passengers who required additional support travelled through Glasgow Airport during so far this year.
Ronald Leitch, Glasgow Airport’s Operations Director, said: “We are committed to ensuring that every passenger enjoys a safe and pleasant journey while travelling through our terminal.
“The people who make up our Persons with Reduced Mobility (PRM) team at Glasgow Airport do a fantastic job and are incredibly passionate about delivering this crucial service for those passengers who need additional support.
“I firmly believe the quality of our PRM service, the dedication of those who provide it and the continual investment made in our facilities ensures those passengers who do require extra assistance continue to feel emboldened to fly.”
Prior to the pandemic, PRM passenger numbers at Glasgow Airport increased year-on-year and this year the percentage of those travelling through the terminal who require additional is at a record high.
Paul Scott, Terminal Compliance Manager at Glasgow Airport, said: “An incredible amount of time and effort is invested in making sure our service is one the airport and its passengers can be proud of, so credit must go to all staff involved in the customer journey including our specialist service providers OCS for their fantastic work.
“We also work with a number of disability organisations such as the Renfrewshire Access Panel and Alzheimer Scotland, who both sit on our access forum, and their support and input plays a crucial role in help the airport to continually improve its special assistance service.”
Glasgow has invested significantly in its special assistance service and was one of the first Scottish airports to introduce a changing places facility at a cost of over £140,000.
Glasgow was the first airport in the UK to introduce the AvTech Connect GPS tracking system, which uses beacon technology to collect location data from 140 transmitters installed across the terminal to provide accurate, real-time insight to improve performance and deliver a superior customer experience.
Paul Smith, Director of Consumers at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said: “The aviation industry has faced unprecedented challenges, but too many passengers at UK airports have been waiting for unacceptable amounts of time for assistance on arriving flights on too many occasions.
“We strongly believe that everyone should have access to air travel, and we welcome the substantial improvements that airports have made for disabled and less mobile passengers.
“We will continue to consider whether we need to take further action where airports are not delivering an acceptable level of performance, and not showing sufficient and sustained improvements. We want to see immediate further improvements, as well as airports being well prepared to provide a high-quality service during next year.”
For more on the CAA visit here. To learn more about special assistance at Glasgow Airport click here.