Air travel with a disability

Flygresa med funktionsnedsättning - Engelska

There are special rules intended to make air travel easier for you if you have a disability.

Translated page: This text has been translated from Swedish. The text and appearance of the page may look different from the original page.

Your rights in brief

If you have a disability, the rules intended to protect you mean that an airline:

  • may not deny you travel on the grounds of your disability

  • may not charge a higher price for the air travel even if you need assistance

  • must try to give you the assistance you need for the journey

  • must give you information you need and can understand.

Travelling with a disability – what rules applies?

  • If you have a disability and need assistance, you must notify the airline no later than 48 hours before the time of departure.

    If you have a disability, airlines can require that you must have an escort to give you assistance if it is required for safety on-board the plane.

  • In exceptional cases, an airline can refuse you to book travel or board an aircraft because you have a disability. This is if the safety requirements make it impossible to take on-board or transport individuals with disabilities due to the size of the plane. This can, for example, be about the assistive devices you need not having room or preventing passability in the plane.

    If you are refused to make a booking, you have the right to know why. The airline must answer you in writing within five days.

    If you are not permitted to travel with the airline on the basis of safety requirements, they must always try to offer you an alternative.

    If you have booked an airline ticket but may not board on the grounds of safety reasons, you have the right to get your money back or rebook your journey.

  • You are entitled to receive information on the airline’s safety rules for passengers with disabilities.

    The information must be in an accessible format and in the same language in which the other passengers get information.

  • If the airline damages or loses an assistive device that you need for your disability, such as a wheelchair, you have the right to damages.

    If the compensation you demand exceeds the amount limit of 1519 SDRs, you need to provide a special explanation.

  • The Swedish Consumer Agency and the Swedish Transport Agency share responsibility for ensuring that the rules protecting passengers with disabilities are followed.

    Do you think a transport company or terminal is breaking the rules? You can report it to us at the Swedish Consumer Agency. A report does not mean that we will investigate your individual case. However, it is important information for us when we review how companies comply with the rules.

    File a complaint to the Swedish Consumer Agency

    The Swedish Transport Agency is responsible for ensuring that stations and platforms are accessible. They also oversee that transport companies and station managers, as much as possible, meet the need for guides if they are not available on the transport.

    The Swedish Transport Agency’s website (in Swedish)

Proofread: 28 May 2025

The content is presented in collaboration with ECC Sweden, which is part of the ECC network and the Swedish Consumer Agency's information service. ECC Sweden is part-financed by the European Union.

The content of this website represents the views of the author only and it is his/her sole responsibility; it cannot be considered to reflect the views of the European Commission and/or the European Innovation Council and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Executive Agency (EISMEA) or any other body of the European Union. The European Commission and the Agency do not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.

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