Sunday Southerner – Aviation Law
Air transportation is no longer a privilege reserved for the young and physically agile. Increasing numbers of elderly persons travel by air for family, medical, business, religious, social and other purposes. Yet the modern airport can be a difficult environment for an elderly passenger.
Long distances between terminals and boarding gates, prolonged standing, security procedures, boarding queues, aircraft stairs, flight delays and inadequate communication can turn what should be an ordinary journey into a physically and emotionally exhausting experience. The protection of elderly air passengers in Nigeria therefore deserves greater attention.
At present, Nigerian aviation law does not contain a comprehensive, stand-alone statutory Bill of Rights specifically dedicated to elderly air passengers.
Their protection is derived principally from the general passenger-protection framework under the Civil Aviation Act 2022, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs) 2023, Part 19—Consumer Protection, and, where age-related physical limitations amount to reduced mobility or disability, the legal protections applicable to persons with reduced mobility or persons with disabilities.
Part 19 is particularly important because it regulates passengers’ rights and responsibilities and the obligations of airlines, travel agents and tour operators. It expressly addresses persons with reduced mobility or special needs, as well as delays, cancellations, denied boarding and baggage-related consumer protection.
The elderly passenger is first and foremost an air passenger
The starting point should be that old age does not deprive a person of the ordinary rights enjoyed by other air passengers.
An elderly passenger who purchases an air ticket enters into a contractual relationship with the airline and is entitled to the applicable protections governing air transportation.
Consequently, an elderly passenger is entitled to appropriate treatment in relation to:
ticketing and reservations; check-in;
boarding; carriage;
baggage; flight delays;
cancellation; denied boarding;
disembarkation;
complaints; and
compensation or other remedies where the applicable regulations are breached.
The fact that a passenger is elderly should not make the passenger a lesser consumer of aviation services.
Right to dignity and respectful treatment
An elderly passenger has a fundamental right to be treated with dignity, courtesy and respect throughout the travel process.
This principle should apply at every stage—from the ticket counter to check-in, security screening, boarding, the aircraft cabin and arrival.
Airport and airline personnel should avoid unnecessarily subjecting elderly passengers to humiliating treatment, shouting, intimidation, neglect or avoidable physical hardship.
This becomes even more important where an elderly passenger has difficulty walking, hearing, seeing, communicating or understanding airport procedures.
The regulatory philosophy underlying the PRM framework is accessibility without discrimination. Part 19 requires airport operators, airlines and ground-handling companies to provide facilities that enhance the movement of persons with reduced mobility and prohibits discrimination based on disability or reduced mobility.
Old age is not automatically the same as reduced mobility This is an important legal distinction. Not every elderly passenger is a person with reduced mobility.
A 70-year-old passenger who is physically fit and independently mobile is simply an elderly passenger and is entitled to the general rights of an air passenger.
However, an elderly passenger who, because of age-related physical limitations or another condition, cannot walk long distances, stand for extended periods, climb aircraft stairs or navigate an airport independently may fall within the regulatory concept of a Person with Reduced Mobility (PRM).
Part 19 specifically provides protections for persons with reduced mobility or special needs.
This distinction is important because the enhanced statutory/regulatory protections should be triggered by the passenger’s actual functional needs, rather than merely by chronological age.
Right to assistance at the airport An elderly passenger who requires assistance should be able to obtain appropriate assistance in navigating the airport.
The regulations require airport operators, airlines and ground-handling companies to provide facilities to enhance the movement of persons with reduced mobility.
Depending upon the passenger’s circumstances, appropriate assistance may include:
wheelchair assistance;
assistance from check-in to the boarding gate;
assistance with movement through the terminal;
assistance in boarding;
assistance in disembarking;
assistance during transfers; and
appropriate assistance with navigating airport facilities.
This is not merely a matter of kindness. Where the passenger falls within the PRM framework, it is a regulatory obligation.
Right to request assistance when making a reservation
One of the significant protections under Part 19 is the recognition that assistance should be arranged before the passenger arrives at the airport.
The regulations require airlines, travel agents and tour operators to provide travellers with an opportunity to request assistance during booking, including through telephone and internet channels.
They must also actively enquire whether a person travelling in the party may require assistance at the airport or during the flight.
This is particularly valuable to elderly passengers.
For example, the family of an 82-year-old passenger who cannot walk long distances should not have to wait until the passenger reaches the airport before requesting wheelchair or mobility assistance.
The need should be identified and arrangements made as early as possible.
Right to priority treatment
Part 19 expressly provides for priority to persons with reduced mobility and persons accompanying them.
Accordingly, an elderly passenger who qualifies as a PRM should receive appropriate priority in the circumstances contemplated by the Regulations.
This is particularly significant during:
boarding;
disembarkation;
flight disruption;
transfers; and
situations requiring special assistance.
Priority treatment should not be understood as preferential treatment for the elderly merely because they are elderly. It is a mechanism for ensuring that passengers whose physical circumstances make ordinary procedures disproportionately difficult are not placed at an unreasonable disadvantage.
Right to protection from discrimination
An elderly passenger should not be discriminated against because of age, disability or reduced mobility.
The specific protection in Part 19 is directed at discrimination based on disability or reduced mobility.
This creates an important legal point.
Where an airline refuses or restricts carriage because a passenger is elderly, the legality of the decision cannot simply be assumed.
The airline should have a legitimate aviation or safety basis for any restriction and should not use age as a convenient substitute for an individual assessment of the passenger’s ability to travel safely.
The better regulatory approach is therefore:
Assess the passenger’s actual needs and fitness to travel, rather than making assumptions based solely on age.
Right not to be abandoned while awaiting assistance
One of the most commendable protections in Part 19 concerns passengers who are dependent on wheelchairs or other mobility devices.
The regulations provide that an airline or its agents must not leave a person with a disability or reduced mobility unattended for more than 30 minutes in a wheelchair or other device where the passenger is not independently mobile.
Staff should also maintain frequent contact with the passenger concerning the status of the assistance request and the passenger’s needs.
For elderly passengers who depend on mobility assistance, this is particularly important. An elderly passenger should not be left for hours at an airport gate without knowing what is happening or whether assistance is coming.
Right to care during delay, cancellation or denied boarding
An elderly passenger remains entitled to applicable passenger protections where a flight is delayed, cancelled or the passenger is denied boarding.
Part 19 contains provisions dealing with these situations and specifically recognises the right to care for persons with reduced mobility and certain accompanying persons.
The practical implication is important.
When an elderly passenger is stranded because of a flight disruption, the airline’s responsibility should not be viewed exclusively in financial terms.
An elderly passenger may have greater difficulty coping with:
prolonged waiting;
lack of seating;
inadequate food or refreshments;
medication schedules;
navigating an unfamiliar airport;
overnight accommodation;
transportation between terminals or hotels; and
communicating with airline personnel.
Therefore, care and assistance should be understood as substantive passenger-protection obligations, not merely commercial courtesies.
Right to adequate information and communication
Information is an essential part of passenger protection.
An elderly passenger should receive timely information concerning:
flight departure;
delays;
cancellations;
boarding;
gate changes;
baggage;
assistance arrangements; and
alternative travel arrangements.
Particular consideration should be given to elderly passengers with hearing, visual, cognitive or communication difficulties. The international aviation approach increasingly recognises that accessibility is not limited to ramps and wheelchairs. It also includes accessible information, communication and services throughout the passenger journey. ICAO’s guidance on access to air transport emphasises accessibility across reservations, check-in, security, airport transfers, embarkation, carriage and arrival.
Right to safe andignified boarding
Boarding can be one of the most difficult stages of air travel for elderly passengers.
Where an elderly passenger has reduced mobility, airlines and airport operators should provide appropriate assistance rather than requiring the passenger to undertake physically demanding procedures that could reasonably be avoided.
This includes appropriate assistance where boarding requires:
long-distance walking;
use of stairs;
movement over uneven surfaces;
transportation between terminal and aircraft; or
prolonged standing.
Safety must, of course, remain paramount.
Assistance must be provided consistently with legitimate aviation-security and safety requirements.
Right to appropriate treatment of mobility aids
Where an elderly passenger uses a wheelchair, walking aid or other mobility device because of reduced mobility, such equipment becomes an essential part of the passenger’s ability to travel.
It should therefore be handled with care and returned to the passenger as soon as reasonably practicable after arrival.
Loss, damage or mishandling of a mobility device can have consequences far more serious than ordinary baggage inconvenience because the passenger may be unable to move independently without it.
This is an area where Nigerian aviation policy could be strengthened by providing more explicit protections for mobility equipment belonging to elderly and disabled passengers.
Right to complain and seek regulatory intervention
An elderly passenger who believes that an airline or airport operator has violated his or her rights should not assume that nothing can be done.
The passenger may first complain to the airline or relevant service provider and, where the matter is not satisfactorily resolved, escalate the complaint to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
Part 19 is expressly designed to protect aviation consumers and regulate airline obligations to passengers.
The NCAA’s consumer-protection mechanism is therefore an important avenue for elderly passengers whose rights have been violated.
