A disabled passenger has vowed never to travel through Manchester Airport again after he was stuck on a plane for two hours waiting for special assistance. Ray King, 68, who has osteoarthritis in both knees and one hip, landed on a Jet2.com flight from Dalaman at 4.45pm earlier this month.
Ray's wife Pauline had pre-booked assistance to help him from the aircraft and through the hub as he cannot negotiate steps or walk long distances. However, on landing and after all other passengers had disembarked, Ray claims both they and another couple waited a further two hours for staff from assistance agency ABM - despite repeated attempts from the cabin and crew to speed up the process.
The plane had been due to fly out again to Sicily at 6.15pm but the delay meant the next set of passengers didn’t get going until after 8pm, says Ray. In the meantime, he says he was taken by ambulift to the terminal, where, with the support of his wife, he had to tackle the walk to passport control on foot as no wheelchair was made available, despite having requested one.
