EUROPE: Airlines Now Forbidden to Discriminate Against Elderly

BRUSSELS, Belgium (euobserver.com}, July 30, 2007: People with reduced mobility should get the same access to air travel as other passengers, according to new EU rules that came into effect on 26 July. Under anti-discrimination legislation, airlines and tour operators will be forbidden to refuse passengers on the basis of reduced mobility, unless "duly justified" by safety reasons. Moreover, starting from July 26, 2008, the disabled or elderly will be entitled to receive free-of-charge assistance in all European airports as well as on board planes taking off in the EU. People with reduced mobility make up around ten percent of the bloc's 492 million population. According to the European Commission, this category of ageing population will grow further. Source: EUobserver