Japanese Airlines Will Provide Access for Wheelchair Fliers

Following an incident in which a paraplegic passenger was forced to crawl up a boarding ramp, airlines from October must provide boarding equipment at local airports that do not have a boarding bridge.

Sources at the transport ministry said the decision will accelerate efforts to remove barriers for the disabled, especially with the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics looming in 2020.

Attention to the problems faced by the disabled was raised in June 2017 when Hideto Kijima, 45, of Osaka Prefecture, tried to board a Vanilla Air flight from Kansai International Airport to Amami Airport in southern Kagoshima Prefecture.

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