REGULATION (EC) No 1107/2006 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 5 July 2006
concerning the rights of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility when travelling by air
(Text with EEA relevance)
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 80(2) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),
Having consulted of the Committee of the Regions,
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (2),
Whereas:
(1)
The single market for air services should benefit citizens in general. Consequently, disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility, whether caused by disability, age or any other factor, should have opportunities for air travel comparable to those of other citizens. Disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility have the same right as all other citizens to free movement, freedom of choice and non-discrimination. This applies to air travel as to other areas of life.
(2)
Disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility should therefore be accepted for carriage and not refused transport on the grounds of their disability or lack of mobility, except for reasons which are justified on the grounds of safety and prescribed by law. Before accepting reservations from disabled persons or persons with reduced mobility, air carriers, their agents and tour operators should make all reasonable efforts to verify whether there is a reason which is justified on the grounds of safety and which would prevent such persons being accommodated on the flights concerned.
(3)
This Regulation should not affect other rights of passengers established by Community legislation and notably Council Directive 90/314/EEC of 13 June 1990 on package travel, package holidays and package tours (3) and Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to air passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights (4) . Where the same event would give rise to the same right of reimbursement or rebooking under either of those legislative acts as well as under this Regulation, the person so entitled should be allowed to exercise that right once only, at his or her discretion.
(4)
In order to give disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility opportunities for air travel comparable to those of other citizens, assistance to meet their particular needs should be provided at the airport as well as on board aircraft, by employing the necessary staff and equipment. In the interests of social inclusion, the persons concerned should receive this assistance without additional charge.
(5)
Assistance given at airports situated in the territory of a Member State to which the Treaty applies should, among other things, enable disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility to proceed from a designated point of arrival at an airport to an aircraft and from the aircraft to a designated point of departure from the airport, including embarking and disembarking. These points should be designated at least at the main entrances to terminal buildings, in areas with check-in counters, in train, light rail, metro and bus stations, at taxi ranks and other drop-off points, and in airport car parks. The assistance should be organised so as to avoid interruption and delay, while ensuring high and equivalent standards throughout the Community and making best use of resources, whatever airport or air carrier is involved.
(6)
To achieve these aims, ensuring high quality assistance at airports should be the responsibility of a central body. As managing bodies of airports play a central role in providing services throughout their airports, they should be given this overall responsibility.
(7)
Managing bodies of airports may provide the assistance to disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility themselves. Alternatively, in view of the positive role played in the past by certain operators and air carriers, managing bodies may contract with third parties for the supply of this assistance, without prejudice to the application of relevant rules of Community law, including those on public procurement.
(8)
Assistance should be financed in such a way as to spread the burden equitably among all passengers using an airport and to avoid disincentives to the carriage of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility. A charge levied on each air carrier using an airport, proportionate to the number of passengers it carries to or from the airport, appears to be the most effective way of funding.
(9)
With a view to ensuring, in particular, that the charges levied on an air carrier are commensurate with the assistance provided to disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility, and that these charges do not serve to finance activities of the managing body other than those relating to the provision of such assistance, the charges should be adopted and applied in full transparency. Council Directive 96/67/EC of 15 October 1996 on access to the groundhandling market at Community airports (5) and in particular the provisions on separation of accounts, should therefore apply where this does not conflict with this Regulation.
(10)
In organising the provision of assistance to disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility, and the training of their personnel, airports and air carriers should have regard to document 30 of the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC), Part I, Section 5 and its associated annexes, in particular the Code of Good Conduct in Ground Handling for Persons with Reduced Mobility as set out in Annex J thereto at the time of adoption of this Regulation.
(11)
In deciding on the design of new airports and terminals, and as part of major refurbishments, managing bodies of airports should, where possible, take into account the needs of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility. Similarly, air carriers should, where possible, take such needs into account when deciding on the design of new and newly refurbished aircraft.
(12)
Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (6) should be strictly enforced in order to guarantee respect for the privacy of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility, and ensure that the information requested serves merely to fulfil the assistance obligations laid down in this Regulation and is not used against passengers seeking the service in question.
(13)
All essential information provided to air passengers should be provided in alternative formats accessible to disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility, and should be in at least the same languages as the information made available to other passengers.
(14)
Where wheelchairs or other mobility equipment or assistive devices are lost or damaged during handling at the airport or during transport on board aircraft, the passenger to whom the equipment belongs should be compensated, in accordance with rules of international, Community and national law.
(15)
Member States should supervise and ensure compliance with this Regulation and designate an appropriate body to carry out enforcement tasks. This supervision does not affect the rights of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility to seek legal redress from courts under national law.
(16)
It is important that a disabled person or person with reduced mobility who considers that this Regulation has been infringed be able to bring the matter to the attention of the managing body of the airport or to the attention of the air carrier concerned, as the case may be. If the disabled person or person with reduced mobility cannot obtain satisfaction in such way, he or she should be free to make a complaint to the body or bodies designated to that end by the relevant Member State.
(17)
Complaints concerning assistance given at an airport should be addressed to the body or bodies designated for the enforcement of this Regulation by the Member State where the airport is situated. Complaints concerning assistance given by an air carrier should be addressed to the body or bodies designated for the enforcement of this Regulation by the Member State which has issued the operating licence to the air carrier.
(18)
Member States should lay down penalties applicable to infringements of this Regulation and ensure that those penalties are applied. The penalties, which could include ordering the payment of compensation to the person concerned, should be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
(19)
Since the objectives of this Regulation, namely to ensure high and equivalent levels of protection and assistance throughout the Member States and to ensure that economic agents operate under harmonised conditions in a single market, cannot sufficiently be achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the scale or effects of the action, be better achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives.
(20)
This Regulation respects the fundamental rights and observes the principles recognised in particular by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
(21)
Arrangements for greater cooperation over the use of Gibraltar airport were agreed in London on 2 December 1987 by the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in a joint declaration by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the two countries. Such arrangements have yet to enter into operation,
HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Purpose and scope
1. This Regulation establishes rules for the protection of and provision of assistance to disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility travelling by air, both to protect them against discrimination and to ensure that they receive assistance.
2. The provisions of this Regulation shall apply to disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility, using or intending to use commercial passenger air services on departure from, on transit through, or on arrival at an airport, when the airport is situated in the territory of a Member State to which the Treaty applies.
3. Articles 3, 4 and 10 shall also apply to passengers departing from an airport situated in a third country to an airport situated in the territory of a Member State to which the Treaty applies, if the operating carrier is a Community air carrier.
4. This Regulation shall not affect the rights of passengers established by Directive 90/314/EEC and under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004.
5. In so far as the provisions of this Regulation conflict with those of Directive 96/67/EC, this Regulation shall prevail.
6. Application of this Regulation to Gibraltar airport is understood to be without prejudice to the respective legal positions of the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland with regard to the dispute over sovereignty over the territory in which the airport is situated.
7. Application of this Regulation to Gibraltar airport shall be suspended until the arrangements included in the Joint Declaration made by the Foreign Ministers of the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on 2 December 1987 enter into operation. The Governments of Spain and of the United Kingdom shall inform the Council of the date of entry into operation.
Article 2
Definitions
For the purposes of this Regulation the following definitions shall apply:
(a)
‘disabled person’ or ‘person with reduced mobility’ means any person whose mobility when using transport is reduced due to any physical disability (sensory or locomotor, permanent or temporary), intellectual disability or impairment, or any other cause of disability, or age, and whose situation needs appropriate attention and the adaptation to his or her particular needs of the service made available to all passengers;
(b)
‘air carrier’ means an air transport undertaking with a valid operating licence;
(c)
‘operating air carrier’ means an air carrier that performs or intends to perform a flight under a contract with a passenger or on behalf of another person, legal or natural, having a contract with that passenger;
(d)
‘Community air carrier’ means an air carrier with a valid operating licence granted by a Member State in accordance with Council Regulation (EEC) No 2407/92 of 23 July 1992 on licensing of air carriers (7);
(e)
‘tour operator’ means, with the exception of an air carrier, an organiser or retailer within the meaning of Article 2(2) and (3) of Directive 90/314/EEC;
(f)
‘managing body of the airport’ or ‘managing body’ means a body which notably has as its objective under national legislation the administration and management of airport infrastructures, and the coordination and control of the activities of the various operators present in an airport or airport system;
(g)
‘airport user’ means any natural or legal person responsible for the carriage of passengers by air from or to the airport in question;
(h)
‘Airport Users Committee’ means a committee of representatives of airport users or organisations representing them;
(i)
‘reservation’ means the fact that the passenger has a ticket, or other proof, which indicates that the reservation has been accepted and registered by the air carrier or tour operator;
(j)
‘airport’ means any area of land specially adapted for the landing, taking-off and manoeuvres of aircraft, including ancillary installations which these operations may involve for the requirements of aircraft traffic and services including installations needed to assist commercial air services;
(k)
‘airport car park’ means a car park, within the airport boundaries or under the direct control of the managing body of an airport, which directly serves the passengers using that airport;
(l)
‘commercial passenger air service’ means a passenger air transport service operated by an air carrier through a scheduled or non-scheduled flight offered to the general public for valuable consideration, whether on its own or as part of a package.
Article 3
Prevention of refusal of carriage
An air carrier or its agent or a tour operator shall not refuse, on the grounds of disability or of reduced mobility:
(a)
to accept a reservation for a flight departing from or arriving at an airport to which this Regulation applies;
(b)
to embark a disabled person or a person with reduced mobility at such an airport, provided that the person concerned has a valid ticket and reservation.
Article 4
Derogations, special conditions and information
1. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 3, an air carrier or its agent or a tour operator may refuse, on the grounds of disability or of reduced mobility, to accept a reservation from or to embark a disabled person or a person with reduced mobility:
(a)
in order to meet applicable safety requirements established by international, Community or national law or in order to meet safety requirements established by the authority that issued the air operator's certificate to the air carrier concerned;
(b)
if the size of the aircraft or its doors makes the embarkation or carriage of that disabled person or person with reduced mobility physically impossible.
In the event of refusal to accept a reservation on the grounds referred to under points (a) or (b) of the first subparagraph, the air carrier, its agent or the tour operator shall make reasonable efforts to propose an acceptable alternative to the person in question.
A disabled person or a person with reduced mobility who has been denied embarkation on the grounds of his or her disability or reduced mobility and any person accompanying this person pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article shall be offered the right to reimbursement or re-routing as provided for in Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004. The right to the option of a return flight or re-routing shall be conditional upon all safety requirements being met.
2. Under the same conditions referred to in paragraph 1, first subparagraph, point (a), an air carrier or its agent or a tour operator may require that a disabled person or person with reduced mobility be accompanied by another person who is capable of providing the assistance required by that person.
3. An air carrier or its agent shall make publicly available, in accessible formats and in at least the same languages as the information made available to other passengers, the safety rules that it applies to the carriage of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility, as well as any restrictions on their carriage or on that of mobility equipment due to the size of aircraft. A tour operator shall make such safety rules and restrictions available for flights included in package travel, package holidays and package tours which it organises, sells or offers for sale.
4. When an air carrier or its agent or a tour operator exercises a derogation under paragraphs 1 or 2, it shall immediately inform the disabled person or person with reduced mobility of the reasons therefor. On request, an air carrier, its agent or a tour operator shall communicate these reasons in writing to the disabled person or person with reduced mobility, within five working days of the request.
Article 5
Designation of points of arrival and departure
1. In cooperation with airport users, through the Airport Users Committee where one exists, and relevant organisations representing disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility, the managing body of an airport shall, taking account of local conditions, designate points of arrival and departure within the airport boundary or at a point under the direct control of the managing body, both inside and outside terminal buildings, at which disabled persons or persons with reduced mobility can, with ease, announce their arrival at the airport and request assistance.
2. The points of arrival and departure referred to in paragraph 1, shall be clearly signed and shall offer basic information about the airport, in accessible formats.
Article 6
Transmission of information
1. Air carriers, their agents and tour operators shall take all measures necessary for the receipt, at all their points of sale in the territory of the Member States to which the Treaty applies, including sale by telephone and via the Internet, of notifications of the need for assistance made by disabled persons or persons with reduced mobility.
2. When an air carrier or its agent or a tour operator receives a notification of the need for assistance at least 48 hours before the published departure time for the flight, it shall transmit the information concerned at least 36 hours before the published departure time for the flight:
(a)
to the managing bodies of the airports of departure, arrival and transit, and
(b)
to the operating air carrier, if a reservation was not made with that carrier, unless the identity of the operating air carrier is not known at the time of notification, in which case the information shall be transmitted as soon as practicable.
3. In all cases other than those mentioned in paragraph 2, the air carrier or its agent or tour operator shall transmit the information as soon as possible.
4. As soon as possible after the departure of the flight, an operating air carrier shall inform the managing body of the airport of destination, if situated in the territory of a Member State to which the Treaty applies, of the number of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility on that flight requiring assistance specified in Annex I and of the nature of that assistance.
Article 7
Right to assistance at airports
1. When a disabled person or person with reduced mobility arrives at an airport for travel by air, the managing body of the airport shall be responsible for ensuring the provision of the assistance specified in Annex I in such a way that the person is able to take the flight for which he or she holds a reservation, provided that the notification of the person's particular needs for such assistance has been made to the air carrier or its agent or the tour operator concerned at least 48 hours before the published time of departure of the flight. This notification shall also cover a return flight, if the outward flight and the return flight have been contracted with the same air carrier.
2. Where use of a recognised assistance dog is required, this shall be accommodated provided that notification of the same is made to the air carrier or its agent or the tour operator in accordance with applicable national rules covering the carriage of assistance dogs on board aircraft, where such rules exist.
3. If no notification is made in accordance with paragraph 1, the managing body shall make all reasonable efforts to provide the assistance specified in Annex I in such a way that the person concerned is able to take the flight for which he or she holds a reservation.
4. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall apply on condition that:
(a)
the person presents himself or herself for check-in:
(i)
at the time stipulated in advance and in writing (including by electronic means) by the air carrier or its agent or the tour operator, or
(ii)
if no time is stipulated, not later than one hour before the published departure time, or
(b)
the person arrives at a point within the airport boundary designated in accordance with Article 5:
(i)
at the time stipulated in advance and in writing (including by electronic means) by the air carrier or its agent or the tour operator, or
(ii)
if no time is stipulated, not later than two hours before the published departure time.
5. When a disabled person or person with reduced mobility transits through an airport to which this Regulation applies, or is transferred by an air carrier or a tour operator from the flight for which he or she holds a reservation to another flight, the managing body shall be responsible for ensuring the provision of the assistance specified in Annex I in such a way that the person is able to take the flight for which he or she holds a reservation.
6. On the arrival by air of a disabled person or person with reduced mobility at an airport to which this Regulation applies, the managing body of the airport shall be responsible for ensuring the provision of the assistance specified in Annex I in such a way that the person is able to reach his or her point of departure from the airport as referred to in Article 5.
7. The assistance provided shall, as far as possible, be appropriate to the particular needs of the individual passenger.
Article 8
Responsibility for assistance at airports
1. The managing body of an airport shall be responsible for ensuring the provision of the assistance specified in Annex I without additional charge to disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility.
2. The managing body may provide such assistance itself. Alternatively, in keeping with its responsibility, and subject always to compliance with the quality standards referred to in Article 9(1), the managing body may contract with one or more other parties for the supply of the assistance. In cooperation with airport users, through the Airport Users Committee where one exists, the managing body may enter into such a contract or contracts on its own initiative or on request, including from an air carrier, and taking into account the existing services at the airport concerned. In the event that it refuses such a request, the managing body shall provide written justification.
3. The managing body of an airport may, on a non-discriminatory basis, levy a specific charge on airport users for the purpose of funding this assistance.
4. This specific charge shall be reasonable, cost-related, transparent and established by the managing body of the airport in cooperation with airport users, through the Airport Users Committee where one exists or any other appropriate entity. It shall be shared among airport users in proportion to the total number of all passengers that each carries to and from that airport.
5. The managing body of an airport shall separate the accounts of its activities relating to the assistance provided to disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility from the accounts of its other activities, in accordance with current commercial practice.
6. The managing body of an airport shall make available to airport users, through the Airport Users Committee where one exists or any other appropriate entity, as well as to the enforcement body or bodies referred to in Article 14, an audited annual overview of charges received and expenses made in respect of the assistance provided to disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility.
Article 9
Quality standards for assistance
1. With the exception of airports whose annual traffic is less than 150 000 commercial passenger movements, the managing body shall set quality standards for the assistance specified in Annex I and determine resource requirements for meeting them, in cooperation with airport users, through the Airport Users Committee where one exists, and organisations representing disabled passengers and passengers with reduced mobility.
2. In the setting of such standards, full account shall be taken of internationally recognised policies and codes of conduct concerning facilitation of the transport of disabled persons or persons with reduced mobility, notably the ECAC Code of Good Conduct in Ground Handling for Persons with Reduced Mobility.
3. The managing body of an airport shall publish its quality standards.
4. An air carrier and the managing body of an airport may agree that, for the passengers whom that air carrier transports to and from the airport, the managing body shall provide assistance of a higher standard than the standards referred to in paragraph 1 or provide services additional to those specified in Annex I.
5. For the purpose of funding either of these, the managing body may levy a charge on the air carrier additional to that referred to in Article 8(3), which shall be transparent, cost-related and established after consultation of the air carrier concerned.
Article 10
Assistance by air carriers
An air carrier shall provide the assistance specified in Annex II without additional charge to a disabled person or person with reduced mobility departing from, arriving at or transiting through an airport to which this Regulation applies provided that the person in question fulfils the conditions set out in Article 7(1), (2) and (4).
Article 11
Training
Air carriers and airport managing bodies shall:
(a)
ensure that all their personnel, including those employed by any sub-contractor, providing direct assistance to disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility have knowledge of how to meet the needs of persons having various disabilities or mobility impairments;
(b)
provide disability-equality and disability-awareness training to all their personnel working at the airport who deal directly with the travelling public;
(c)
ensure that, upon recruitment, all new employees attend disability-related training and that personnel receive refresher training courses when appropriate.
Article 12
Compensation for lost or damaged wheelchairs, other mobility equipment and assistive devices
Where wheelchairs or other mobility equipment or assistive devices are lost or damaged whilst being handled at the airport or transported on board aircraft, the passenger to whom the equipment belongs shall be compensated, in accordance with rules of international, Community and national law.
Article 13
Exclusion of waiver
Obligations towards disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility pursuant to this Regulation shall not be limited or waived.
Article 14
Enforcement body and its tasks
1. Each Member State shall designate a body or bodies responsible for the enforcement of this Regulation as regards flights departing from or arriving at airports situated in its territory. Where appropriate, this body or bodies shall take the measures necessary to ensure that the rights of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility are respected, including compliance with the quality standards referred to in Article 9(1). The Member States shall inform the Commission of the body or bodies designated.
2. Member States shall, where appropriate, provide that the enforcement body or bodies designated under paragraph 1 shall also ensure the satisfactory implementation of Article 8, including as regards the provisions on charges with a view to avoiding unfair competition. They may also designate a specific body to that effect.
Article 15
Complaint procedure
1. A disabled person or person with reduced mobility who considers that this Regulation has been infringed may bring the matter to the attention of the managing body of the airport or to the attention of the air carrier concerned, as the case may be.
2. If the disabled person or person with reduced mobility cannot obtain satisfaction in such way, complaints may be made to any body or bodies designated under Article 14(1), or to any other competent body designated by a Member State, about an alleged infringement of this Regulation.
3. A body in one Member State which receives a complaint concerning a matter that comes under the responsibility of a designated body of another Member State shall forward the complaint to the body of that other Member State.
4. The Member States shall take measures to inform disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility of their rights under this Regulation and of the possibility of complaint to this designated body or bodies.
Article 16
Penalties
The Member States shall lay down rules on penalties applicable to infringements of this Regulation and shall take all the measures necessary to ensure that those rules are implemented. The penalties provided for must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. The Member States shall notify those provisions to the Commission and shall notify it without delay of any subsequent amendment affecting them.
Article 17
Report
The Commission shall report to the European Parliament and the Council by 1 January 2010 at the latest on the operation and the effects of this Regulation. The report shall be accompanied where necessary by legislative proposals implementing in further detail the provisions of this Regulation, or revising it.
Article 18
Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply with effect from 26 July 2008, except Articles 3 and 4, which shall apply with effect from 26 July 2007.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Strasbourg, 5 July 2006.