A group of handicapped South Africans have threatened legal action against a local airline for charging extra fees to passengers who need assistance boarding, a member of Parliament said Wednesday.
The South African-based airliner, Nationwide Airlines, will answer to complaints of discrimination before the Equality Court, a Cape Town-based tribunal, said Vincent Gore, a member of the Independent Democrats opposition party.
”We intend to show that Nationwide Airlines unreasonably accommodates people with disabilities and elderly people by being the only airline charging an extra amount as a result of their impairments,” said Gore who is collecting signatures from plaintiffs.
Gore, who is wheelchair-bound and has had to pay the fees, said his group plans to file the complaint before the end of the year.
Nationwide Airlines, a privately-owned company, was initially a charter company, providing services within Africa for the United Nations and the World Food Programme.
The airline’s commercial director, Roger Whittle, said that the actions of his company were not discriminatory.
”We are a small airline, we are just passing those costs along. I do not think we are being discriminatory,” said Whittle.
About seven million of South Africa’s 46-million people have disabilities, according to Gore. – Sapa-AFP