Dubai’s Emirates Airline has apologised after 35 wheelchair passengers, including British athlete Baroness Carys Davina Grey-Thompson, were left stranded for an hour on a connecting flight from New Zealand.
Baroness Grey-Thompson, a British Paralympian and sports commentator, told the BBC she and 34 fellow disabled passengers were left on their plane for an hour after arrival at Dubai International airport from New Zealand as Emirates staff struggled to transport all passengers to the terminal using just one wheelchair.
"You kind of feel you're having your dignity taken away," Grey-Thompson, who has won eleven Olympic gold medals and won the London Marathon six times, said.
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She added that, as a result of the delay, some of the passengers missed their connecting flight to the UK.
“Emirates apologises for the inconvenience caused to passengers travelling on flight EK419 from Christchurch to Dubai,” an Emirates spokesperson said.
The statement said “dedicated lifting equipment and ample personnel were immediately deployed as part of the preparation to assist the passengers to disembark but when the aircraft landed there was an unforeseen delay in accessing the passengers' wheelchairs from the aircraft.”
Emirates added it had planned to disembark the passengers using a parking stand but due to a medical emergency on another incoming aircraft it was forced to park the plane carrying Grey-Thompson and transfer passengers to the terminal in a bus.
As a result, there was a delay in accessing the passengers own wheelchairs and an airport wheelchair had to used to transfer the 35 passengers.
“Emirates prides itself on offering passengers with reduced mobility an excellent standard of care. During 2010 alone 360,000 Emirates passengers with reduced mobility were successfully assisted through Dubai International Airport," the statement added.
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