The new national airline KM Malta Airlines has denied that it has introduced any new charges or changed practices regarding persons with reduced mobility who want to travel, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
"The airline does not charge passengers requiring wheelchair assistance before departing and after arrival, or passengers requiring help to embark or disembark the aircraft," the company said.
The statement followed several complaints filed to the Commission for Rights for Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) that the new national airline was imposing a requirement for wheelchair users to fill in and submit a €15 medical form when booking a flight.
With reference to reports that appeared in the media, the company said that it strictly and rigorously complies with international aviation safety standards and with European passenger travel regulations.
It said that EU Regulation 1107/2006 states that persons with disabilities and persons with reduced mobility should be accepted for carriage and not refused transport on the grounds of their disability or lack of mobility, except for reasons which are justified on the grounds of safety and prescribed by law.
The company said that before accepting reservations from persons with disabilities or persons with reduced mobility, airlines, their agents and tour operators are required to make all reasonable efforts to verify whether there is a reason which is justified on the grounds of safety, and which would prevent such persons being accommodated on the flights concerned.
The airline said that the same regulations entail that in situations where the medical condition of a passenger is such that there is reasonable doubt that the passenger can complete the flight safely without requiring assistance during the flight, an airline may decide to carry out an assessment on whether the passenger is fit-to-fly and request information to support that assessment.
"It is only in these special cases that KM Malta Airlines, and other airlines, may require passengers to procure a certificate from the airline's medical advisers that the passenger is fit to fly," the company said.
It also said that the charge of €15 is made by the medical doctor carrying out such assessment, and not by the airline. This is also required by the IATA safety standards for bookings and registering of passengers with wheelchairs (WCHC).
The company noted the MEDIF forms, which are the set of forms required by the IATA Medical Manual to manage passengers requiring special assistance and medical clearance.
It said that the MEDIF forms has two attachments, and the responses given to the questions in Attachment A will determine if a medical clearance is required by the airline.
The second attachment, Attachment B, would then provide the airline with the specific medical data on the passenger and the special arrangements recommended by its medical adviser.
The company said that Attachment A of the MEDIF must be completed, as early as possible, by the airlines or by the travel agent/booking office.
Attachment B must be completed by the medical adviser. The company said that the IATA advises that it is of utmost importance that the medical adviser gives precise and factual information and not merely a diagnosis together with a statement that, in his opinion, the patient is fit to travel by air.
The company said that as a full member of IATA, KM Malta Airlines supports the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) which requires inter alia airlines to take appropriate measures so that persons with disabilities have equal access to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communication including information technologies and systems, and other facilities and services open or provided to the public.