Delhi Airport To Provide Automated Wheelchairs For Elderly & Differently Abled Passengers!
In a bid to make air travel comfortable for ‘Passengers with Reduced Mobility’(PRM), Delhi Airport will soon introduce automated wheelchair services.
At present, there are 7 electric wheelchairs being provided at the airport on trial basis, however, authorities are planning to start this service permanently by ‘Mid-August’ this year.
Here are all the details about the new automated wheelchairs –
- It can carry a load of up to 250 Kg.
- It is designed to accommodate a passenger and their check-in bag.
- The battery operated wheelchair is capable of functioning the whole day on a single charge.
- Travellers who fall under the PMR category will also be provided an assistant by the service operators.
Based on the requirements of the airlines, an adequate number of wheelchairs will be introduced at all terminals of the Delhi Airport.
Delhi International Airport Limited(DIAL) has appointed “Aviaxpert Aviation Pvt. Ltd.” to operate this service at the airport. They are procuring these wheelchairs from Europe.
DIAL has said that the service providers will be able to track the whereabouts of the passengers within the airport, till they board the airplane, using a chip installed in the wheelchair.
At present, airlines have a dedicated staff to help elderly and disabled passengers. They use basic wheelchairs to ferry them from the entrance of the airport to the airplane.
DIAL will not scrap manually operated wheelchairs which are present at the airport, once the automated wheelchair service is established.
Airports around the world have started using automated wheelchairs to help such passengers. We hope that more airports in India take Delhi airport’s example and start this service in the near future.