‘Not cargo': Doc seeks facilities for differently abled at Hindon terminal
Ghaziabad: A doctor this month filed a complaint with the
Hindon Civil Terminal
over the lack of adequate facilities to ease travel for differently abled people at the airport, where commercial flights are being scaled up since March.
Satendra Singh, who lives in Vasundhara Olive County and works at GTB Hospital, alleged in the complaint that
Air India Express
(AIX) staffers lied to him twice when he enquired about the availability of
ambulift service
at the Hindon Civil Terminal.
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Singh wrote in the complaint – also marked to the AIX airport manager, regulator DGCA and the Union civil aviation ministry — that he booked an Air India Express flight to go to Goa on May 4 and return two days after.
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"I had requested wheelchair assistance at the time of booking, knowing that the airline does not have towable ramps or aerobridges. I proactively contacted the airline's customer support to confirm availability of an ambulift. Two Air India Express executives assured me on call that an ambulift would be available but, to my shock, I was later informed that the terminal does not have any such facility," Singh said in the complaint.
"Later, when I confronted the carrier, they most callously offered a solution, saying —'It's not at all a problem, we will use four people to lift you along with the wheelchair' — as if my body were luggage, to be handled like cargo," Singh wrote.
An ambulift is a vehicle with ambulance-like facilities that is used to ferry differently abled passengers from an airport terminal to the aircraft. It then lifts passengers on wheelchairs or stretchers to the level of the aircraft's door.
Major airports, among them Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, provide this facility.
Singh said this "solution" was "not only undignified" but also in violation of Article 21 of the Constitution and civil aviation rules.
AIX, in a series of posts on X, said that the "availability of an ambulift falls under the purview of the airport authority".
On this response, Singh told TOI on Thursday the carrier is deflecting blame on the Airport Authority of India, but it is as guilty as AAI.
He demanded that the terminal must immediately procure an ambulift or an equivalent facility, take disciplinary action against AIX staff for misleading claims and the airline should issue an apology to him.
An official of Hindon Civil Terminal said the aerodrome advisory committee (AAC) has been meeting regularly to upgrade and enhance facilities. "This includes facilities for differently abled people and medical services. Many recommendations have been made in this regard, and they are being worked out," he said.
The Hindon airport, which previously handled only Udan flights with limited traffic, is now connected to all metro cities, with a daily flight each to Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, and two to Bengaluru. AI Express also operates on the Goa, Jammu and Bhubaneswar routes.
Located about 25km from Delhi and well connected by road and metro trains, the Hindon terminal is being used as NCR's second airport – after IGI -- primarily for travellers from Noida, East Delhi, and west UP.
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