• Home

'IA fails to provide aged couple wheelchairs'

"I recently underwent a total knee-joint replacement surgery and my wife is also not physically fit. When we made the booking, we specifically informed the airline that we require wheelchairs since we find it difficult to walk long distances. We were not informed by our agent or the airline that our request was rejected and so we assumed that wheelchairs will be made available for us at the airport," the 76-year-old physician said.

Muthuswami said he also would not have minded paying an additional fee for the wheelchair service if it was necessary. "But we were not told of any guideline or policy regarding the use of the equipment so we couldn't know what the procedures were," he said.

However, when they arrived at the DIA on July 7 on board IC 905, Dr. Muthuswami said that he and his wife had to stay for an hour inside the aircraft waiting for the hydraulic lift as they could not take the stairs. "When the hydraulic lift finally arrived, there was only one wheelchair which I gave up for my wife. I have already written to the management of Indian Airlines about this but they haven't responded," he said.

He pointed out that he has been a frequent flyer of Indian Airlines and although he is loyal to them, he wanted to echo the sentiments of other elderly or physically-challenged passengers who have experienced or may experience the same situation.

Reply

IN A statement released to Khaleej Times, Aloke Singh, Country Manager of Indian Airlines Limited, said that the flight IC 905 arrived from Madras to Dubai at 2245 hours (10:45 p.m.) local time and was parked on the remote bay due to the unavailability of bay with aerobridges at the DIA.

"Dnata, who provide ground handling at the DIA, were informed by our arrival staff about the request of lift-o-mobile and wheelchair, which reached the aircraft at 2310 hours (11:10 p.m.) Mr. and Mrs. Muthuswami were picked up and the same lift-o-mobile was also assigned by Dnata to receive another Indian Airlines flight that had arrived almost simultaneously, and also had passengers requiring wheelchair/lift-o-mobile. As such, the passengers were delayed in reaching the arrival area as the lift-o-mobile had been assigned to two aircraft which landed at the same time and were parked at remote bays," he explained.

He added that Dnata imposes a charge of Dh250 for the use of the lift-o-mobile and Dh125 for each wheelchair. "These costs were absorbed by the airline," Singh commented.

The Indian Airlines' country manager further noted that their airport manager personally spoke to the passenger (Dr. Muthuswami) explaining the reason for the delay and apologised to him even though the circumstances were beyond their control.

"We have also advised our airport manager to take up the matter with Dnata to ensure such things are not repeated in the future," Singh added.

No street lights in Al Ain's Niyadat Area

MR ADNAN who lives in Old Niyadat Area in Al Ain near Al Niyadat Clinic has complained that there are no street lights at night. He requested the authority to instal street lights as he narrowly missed dashing his car against a girl who was walking then in the dark area.

Reply

AN OFFICIAL from the Road Sector at Al Ain Department of Municipalities and Agriculture told Khaleej Times that the civic body is conducting a key project for the installation of street lights in all areas lacking street lamp poles, adding that the new areas that were built during the past 7 years are fully supplied with lamp posts but the old ones need more.

Buses for new areas of Dubai

MR Amin who lives in the Arabian Ranches, Dubai complained to the Khaleej Times Hotline that there are lots of labourers and domestic staff working there. "But there are no buses available for them. To come and go they have to use taxis which prove to be very costly for them. The government should do something about this. Bus stations should be constructed and buses should ply in this area," he suggested.

Reply

THE Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) replied that it is sensitive to the needs of the workers and is already in the process of acquiring more buses. "The authority is planning to use the new buses not only for Arabian Ranches but also all the other surrounding areas where there are no buses now," an official disclosed.

• UAE