Easyjet sued for refusing disabled

FRANCE'S anti-discrimination body, the Halde, has begun legal action against Easyjet for refusing a disabled passenger who was travelling alone.

Marie-Patricia Hoarau, from Fréjus in the Var, who has been paraplegic since a cycling accident 19 years ago, was made to get off an Easyjet flight from Paris to Nice in March and told she could not travel alone.

Another traveller offered to accompany her but crew reportedly refused because the two passengers had not boarded at the same time. She was given a free ticket on the next flight and check-in staff found another passenger willing to accompany her.

Halde president Jeannette Bougrab told La Croix that the group was beginning legal action against the British budget airline for discrimination against a handicapped passenger.

"It appears that certain airlines use security arguments to refuse disabled people access to their planes," she said.

"Others demand that they are accompanied, which requires them to pay for two tickets.

"The rules are clear: an airline does not have the right to turn away a passenger because of their disability."

Easyjet said in a statement to the paper: "We have an obligation to respect very strict security rules.
"We try to find someone to accompany [disabled passengers]. We prefer to do this at the check-in stage."

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Easyjet turns away disabled passenger
Photo:Lucamascaro