Disabled passengers should be given a seat by airlines when waiting for flights, the Court of Appeal has ruled as it upheld damages for an arthritis sufferer.
Three senior judges upheld a county court decision to award £7,500 to Janice Campbell, from Sheffield, on the grounds that the failure by Thomas Cook staff to offer her a seat or wheelchair as she waited in a airport queue amounted to discrimination, the Telegraph reported.
The county court judge also said staff had failed to act “with common humanity”, in the judgment the higher court ruled was “impressive, well-reasoned and right”.
The case was “leap-frogged” to the appeal court to clarify the law for travellers with disabilities who travel to countries outside the EU.
The damages under the 2010 Equality Act compensate her for the “substantial pain and discomfort” she endured at Monastir airport in Tunisia in January 2011.
Mrs Campbell (67), who suffers from arthritis in her neck, back and right hip and gets migraines, was among hundreds of tourists flown back to the UK after civil unrest erupted in Tunisia.
Judge Graham Robinson, sitting at Sheffield County Court, heard she spent four hours at the airport on January 15 waiting for a flight.
When she informed staff she was unable to stand for long periods she was told “there is nothing we can do” – despite seeing other people being transported in wheelchairs.
At one stage she was told if she did not move to join another queue she would be left behind.
Judge Robinson heard Mrs Campbell was not flown back to the UK until January 16 and suffered bouts of vomiting while waiting for a second day at Monastir airport.
A spokeswoman for Thomas Cook apologised for its failure but said the “urgent nature” of the repatriation meant it was not possible to rearrange the necessary assistance.
Awarding damages against Thomas Cook Tour Operations in May last year, Judge Robinson said “nothing effective” had been done to alleviate her suffering.
He said: “This is such a clear case that it is, frankly, a simple case of the defendant failing to act with common humanity towards a person in obvious difficulty and distress.”
Thomas Cook asked the appeal judges – Lord Justice Longmore, Lord Justice McCombe and Lord Justice Vos – to overturn Judge Robinson’s decision.
Matthew Chapman, appearing for Thomas Cook, said the case raised “an important point of principle” and the company was asking the court to make clear “what its obligations are to its passenger customers in transit through airports located in non-EU countries”.
He argued the award should never have been made by the county court because Mrs Campbell’s rights under the EC Disability Regulation were limited and she was not entitled to compensation for her tour operator’s failures at an airport in a non-EU country.
He said the Equality Act passed by the UK Parliament could not impose additional duties to those contained in the EC Regulation, otherwise “the efficacy of European Community law would be lost”.
Dismissing the appeal, Lord Justice Vos said there was “nothing to stop the UK legislating for additional duties not covered by the Regulation”.
He said: “It can hardly reduce the efficacy of EU law if national law makes additional provision to protect disabled persons travelling by air outside member states.”
Welcoming the latest ruling, Mrs Campbell said: “All I wanted was a seat. Hopefully this very good judgment will make a difference.”