Disabled people 'failed most' in airport chaos, says teen left queuing for hours

A disabled teenager left queuing for hours in an airport says people with additional needs are disproportionately affected during major travel disruption.

Josephine Rogers, 19, from Newport, said the special assistance she needed at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam was not available when her flight back to Wales was one of more than 150 cancelled amid UK-wide air traffic control issues on Tuesday.

She was in a group of 13 young people who spent eight hours stuck in the airport after a cultural exchange in Finland.

Schiphol Airport said it understood "how frustrating" the situation was and encouraged those who felt "assistance provided did not meet expectations" to make a formal complaint.

"After years of promises and laws to do better for disabled people it seems like no progress has been made," said Rogers.

"When the system fails, it fails us even more."

Rogers, who works with a mental health charity that sponsored her trip, said her fibromyalgia made it difficult to walk long distances or stand for more than an hour.

"It causes extreme pain that leaves me bed-bound for days," she said.

"When it's really bad on my knees, my leg start to buckle and you can't think with pain."

Rogers said she was able to travel through airports with the help of special assistance, but with the disruption on Tuesday the service became unavailable - with no support offered while she queued at automated gates, while the additional needs lane was closed when they progressed to a regular passport control queue.

"We waited at the desk a half an hour and no one came," she said.

"It makes a hard situation even worse for a large portion of people, elderly and disabled."

Rogers said charities, including the cultural exchange group Taith and Mind in Gwent, helped get the group home on the train.

But she added her luggage, with medications she needed, remained missing two days after she reached home.

A spokesperson for Schiphol Airport said: "Passengers with reduced mobility can be particularly affected by disruptions. It is precisely in situations like these that people should be able to rely on support. We therefore understand how frustrating it can be when a journey is already complicated by disruption and someone feels they are not receiving the assistance they need."

They added "situations involving major operational disruptions can be particularly challenging", adding demand for assistance had been "increasing for many years" and the airport continued to "invest in this area".

"If a passenger believes that the assistance provided did not meet expectations, a complaint can be submitted to either the airport or the airline."