Chloe Glover (Reporter)
HUNDREDS of disabled people have staged a protest against Ryanair over discrimination.
Campaigners descended on the Adolfo Suarez-Madrid Barajas Airport, where they accused the airline of deliberately making it difficult for them to travel.
The demonstration was inspired by the plight of deaf-blind Spanish student Javier Garcia Pajares who claimed that Ryanair did not allow him to travel alone due to ‘security reasons’.
“The airline conjures up hare-brained security reasons and, without any kind of social commitment, excludes disabled passengers directly or by obliging them to bring a travel companion at their own expense,” claimed Luis Cayo Perez Bueno, president of the Committee of Representatives of Disabled People.
Ryanair has strongly refuted the claims, with a spokesman stating: “Thousands of passengers who need special assistance choose to fly with us every week, a service that usually takes place with normality.”
He added: “We are proud of the service we offer to all of our clients and we will continue to make an effort to improve our service every day.”
Commenting on the case of Garcia, he said that the company allowed him to travel alone once they had received relevant documentation but that Garcia declined to accept.
