When Sarah boarded a flight from Amsterdam last summer, she had already spent two hours navigating a system that wasn't built with her in mind. As a wheelchair user, she filled out online booking forms that didn't accommodate her access needs, waited at check-in while staff scrambled to find information about her requirements, and watched ground handlers load her wheelchair into the cargo hold with visible uncertainty. By the time she reached her seat, she was exhausted—not from travel, but from having to fight for basic dignity at every step.
Sarah's experience isn't unusual. New research from Breda University of Applied Sciences reveals that despite a decade of accessibility regulations and industry standards, air travel remains unnecessarily difficult for an estimated 90 million Europeans living with disabilities.
The study examined the complete journey of passengers with physical disabilities, sensory impairments, and invisible conditions like autism and anxiety. It found that barriers don't exist in isolation—they compound.
A single missing accommodation is frustrating. But when a booking system fails to capture accessibility needs, when that information doesn't reach ground staff at check-in, when equipment handling falls short, when airport signage isn't accessible, the cumulative weight becomes suffocating. For many disabled travelers, each journey requires extraordinary personal effort just to access a service that non-disabled passengers take for granted.
The research, published in Research in Transportation Business & Management, arrives as Europe's accessibility regulations enter their second year of implementation. Airlines have had time to adjust and airports have invested in infrastructure. Yet the study makes clear that compliance with minimum standards is not the same as genuine accessibility.
"Many regulations and standards exist, yet the struggles remain," said Simone Moretti, senior researcher in Tourism Impacts on Society at Breda University of Applied Sciences. "The aviation sector has good intentions, but consistent, dignified service requires more than compliance. It requires truly understanding what these passengers go through."
Most accessibility improvements in aviation have been reactive—responding to complaints or legal pressure rather than proactively designing systems that work for disabled people from the ground up. The result is a patchwork of accommodations that may technically meet regulatory checkboxes but fail to address the real complexity of disabled travelers' needs.
The research team introduces a concept called "standardized flexibility." Aviation doesn't have to choose between uniform safety standards and individual adaptability. Airports can maintain consistent safety protocols while building systems flexible enough to accommodate the real diversity of human need. A wheelchair user's requirements differ from those of a deaf passenger or someone with anxiety—yet both need reliable, dignified service.
Achieving this requires a fundamental shift in how the aviation industry approaches accessibility. One in four European adults lives with a disability. That's not a niche market—that's mainstream.
The research team is putting this insight into practice through INCLAVI (Inclusive Aviation), an EU Erasmus+-funded project that brings together university partners across Europe to develop education and training standards for aviation professionals. They've created a free training course that moves beyond checklist compliance to build genuine understanding of disabled passengers' experiences and needs.
Coordinated effort drives real change. Universities research what actually works, industry professionals receive training to understand disabled passengers' real needs, and—crucially—disabled people themselves are involved in designing solutions.
Too often, accessibility improvements are designed by people without disabilities, based on assumptions rather than lived experience. Co-creation—actively involving disabled passengers in designing services and infrastructure—is the only way to build systems that actually work.
A passenger booking a flight online should be able to clearly communicate their accessibility needs in real time. That information should automatically transfer to every relevant staff member before the passenger arrives at the airport. Ground handlers should have clear protocols and training for equipment handling. Airport navigation should be intuitive for people with different mobility, sensory, and cognitive needs. Staff should be trained in understanding disability and dignity, not just procedures.
None of this is technologically impossible, nor would it compromise safety. What it requires is treating accessibility as a core design principle rather than an afterthought.
With passenger numbers expected to grow substantially over the coming decade, the window for systemic reform is open now. The aviation industry can either continue scaling a system that excludes millions of potential passengers, or it can build accessibility into its foundation. The research suggests the latter isn't just ethically necessary—it's practical.
