Air travel accessibility in the EU: the reform we are asking for

Air travel accessibility in the EU still rests on a regulation adopted in 2006. It guarantees access to the flight, but says almost nothing about the aircraft itself: no binding cabin standards, no legal recognition of the support companion, and assistance dogs left to twenty-seven different national rules.

What Regulation (EC) No 1107/2006 guarantees today

• Article 3. Airlines, agents and tour operators may not refuse a booking or boarding on grounds of disability or reduced mobility.
• Article 4. Narrow exceptions on safety grounds or where aircraft or door size makes boarding physically impossible; written reasons must be given within five working days on request.
• Article 6. Assistance must be notified 48 hours before the published departure time.
• Articles 7–8 and Annex I. The airport managing body is responsible for assistance on the ground, at no additional cost to the passenger.
• Article 10 and Annex II. Airlines must carry wheelchairs and mobility equipment free of charge, and recognised guide dogs in the cabin, subject to national rules.
• Article 11. Disability-awareness training for staff, with no common minimum curriculum.
• Article 12. Liability for damaged or lost mobility equipment is left to the general baggage regime and its Montreal Convention limits.
• Articles 14–16. Each Member State designates an enforcement body and sets penalties. In Spain, the national aviation safety agency (AESA).

Where it fails

Six gaps drive everything AeraAccess documents: no binding accessibility standards for the cabin; no legal definition of the support companion and no rule on the price of their ticket; assistance dogs subject to national law rather than EU law; symbolic compensation when a bespoke powered wheelchair is destroyed; a 48-hour notice period that is stricter than in rail transport; and training obligations with no defined content or protocol.

In July 2026 the EU institutions closed the revision of the air passenger rights framework, centred on Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 and including amendments to Regulation 1107/2006. According to the European Disability Forum, the package leaves unjustified denied boarding, liability for damaged mobility equipment, staff training, assistance animals and the 48-hour notice unaddressed. [VERIFY the exact scope against the final text published in the Official Journal.]

What we are asking for

1. Binding technical accessibility standards for the cabin, including wheelchair anchorage systems and an accessible lavatory.
2. Legal recognition of the support companion, with a free ticket and a guaranteed adjacent seat.
3. Guaranteed cabin access for assistance dogs across the whole Union, free of charge and without referral to national rules.
4. A dedicated liability regime for mobility equipment, detached from ordinary baggage limits.
5. Safety information in accessible formats, plus visual and vibrotactile alerts.
6. Mandatory training with a common minimum curriculum and a protocol for sensory-overload crises.
7. Notice period reduced to 24 hours, in line with rail transport.
8. An outermost-regions clause recognising structural dependence on air transport under Article 349 TFEU.

Why the Canary Islands

The Canary Islands depend on air transport in a way few European territories do. Flying is not one mobility option among several: it is the only way to reach a referral hospital, a court or a university on the mainland. Under Article 349 TFEU the archipelago is an outermost region of the European Union, and under Article 174 TFEU the Union is committed to territorial cohesion.

That is the argument: where the aircraft is the only means of transport, an inaccessible aircraft is a border. The full reasoning is set out, in Spanish, in accesibilidad aérea y regiones ultraperiféricas and in las cinco realidades de la discapacidad.

About AeraAccess

AeraAccess is the Air Transport Accessibility Platform promoted by Asociación Cerros Color Azul. Its mission is to advance accessibility in air transport through information, innovation and collaboration between people, institutions and companies. The petition to the European Parliament was filed under Article 227 TFEU, which grants any citizen or entity established in a Member State the right to petition.

Contact: consulta@aeraaccess.com · +34 640 802 156. Detailed analysis is available in Spanish at Reglamento 1107/2006.