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LCQ14: Provision of civil aviation services for persons with disabilities
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     Following is a question by the Hon Kenneth Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (June 17):

Question:

     It has been reported that earlier on, an airline company refused to let a patient of osteogenesis imperfecta (commonly known as "brittle bone disease") to board a plane. Regarding the provision of equal and reasonable civil aviation services for persons with disabilities (PWDs), will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the number and details of the complaints received by the authorities in the past five years about PWDs being treated unfairly or unreasonably when they were using civil aviation services;

(2) whether the authorities have formulated any guidelines on or requirements for the provision of assistance and arrangements by airline companies and ground handling service companies (civil aviation service providers) for PWDs using their services; if they have, of the details; if not, whether the authorities will consider formulating such guidelines or requirements; if they will, of the details of the work; if not, the reasons for that; and

(3) whether the authorities will consider enacting legislation to require civil aviation service providers to provide equal and reasonable services and arrangements for passengers who are PWDs, as well as prescribing penalties for contravention of the law; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     My reply to the various parts of the question raised by Hon Kenneth Chan is as follows:

(1) The Transport and Housing Bureau and the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) have not received any complaints concerning persons with disabilities being treated unfairly or unreasonably when using civil aviation services over the past five years.

     However, the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) has received relevant complaint cases over the past five years (see Annex 1).

     Separately, with reference to the information provided by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), over the past five years, the cases concerning persons with disabilities being treated unfairly or unreasonably when using civil aviation services are set out in Annex 2.

(2) The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) both require airlines to assist persons with disabilities to obtain appropriate air services under safe circumstances.

     The CAD, taking into account the principle of aviation safety as well as relevant guidelines, including ICAO's Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 9 - Facilitation and IATA's Cabin Operations Safety Best Practices Guide, promulgated in its CAD 360 - Air Operator's Certificates Requirements Document that local airlines are required to assist persons with disabilities to obtain appropriate air services. The requirements of registering for and holding an Air Operator's Certificate are set out in details. The requirements concerning persons with disabilities include:

(i) Persons with disabilities should not be refused air transport on the grounds of their disability or lack of mobility, except only for reasons which are justified on the grounds of safety;

(ii) Airlines should ensure that the maximum number of passengers with disabilities on the aircraft must not exceed the total number of floor level exits (Note) at the main deck;

(iii) Only one passenger with disabilities shall be allocated to the seats near the aforementioned exit, but such seat should not obstruct emergency exits;

(iv) All cabin crew should receive training on the handling of passengers with disabilities; and

(v) The provision of services to passengers with disabilities should not impede the crew in their duties and should not obstruct access to emergency equipment or hinder aircraft evacuation.

(3) Other than the above requirements as imposed by CAD, the Disability Discrimination Ordinance (the Ordinance) stipulates that any person who refuses to allow persons with disabilities to access and use any place that the public is allowed to enter, or refuses to provide services for persons with disabilities may be considered as contravening the Ordinance. These services and facilities include transport facilities and services relating to transport.  

     However, such refusal is not an offence if the provision of services for persons with disabilities or permission for persons with disabilities to access and use the place would impose unjustifiable hardship on the service or facility providers, or the transport facilities are so designed or constructed as to be inaccessible to persons with disabilities and the provision of such facilities for persons with disabilities would impose unjustifiable hardship on the service or facility providers.

Note: In general, there are two types of exits available at the main deck of an aircraft, namely floor level exits and wing level exits. For wing level exits, they are located at the windows and passengers are required to climb out of the windows during evacuation. This type of exit may impose difficulty to passengers with disabilities during evacuation. In order to ensure the safety of passengers with disabilities and other passengers, seats near the wing level exits would not be assigned to passengers with disabilities. Furthermore, the maximum number of passengers with disabilities on the aircraft must not exceed the total number of floor level exits at the main deck.

Ends/Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Issued at HKT 15:18

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