Disability Assistance

Aer Lingus will inform both your departure and arrival airports that you've requested a wheelchair and assistance from check in to the aircraft. We will also notify them if you've requested a carry-on service which is designed for passengers who are completely immobile and unable to make their way to their seat unaided. Passengers must be capable of sitting upright in their seat.

Disabled passengers and passengers with reduced mobility can travel with up to two pieces of mobility equipment at no charge. If you will be travelling with a battery-operated wheelchair, please see Battery-operated wheelchairs and mobility devices for more information.

We accept wheelchairs and other mobility aids weighing over 120kg (or where the heaviest individual part weighs more than 120kg) at all of our airports. However, we require advance notice for any device heavier than 120kg to ensure there is suitable lifting equipment available

All aircraft in our Airbus fleet (A330, A321, and A320) are equipped with on-board wheelchairs.

On-board toilets are not wheelchair accessible, however the on-board aisle chair provides accessibility to the toilets.

Any passenger travelling with a wheelchair or other mobility device must request mobility assistance to ensure they receive appropriate support from departure and arrival airports. We kindly ask that you give us at least 48 hours notice of your special assistance requirements.

If you need to travel with a battery-operated wheelchair or other mobility device, you will need to check it in and we will carry it in the aircraft hold.

We need to know certain information about the device in order safely stow it in the hold such as the type of device, whether it's battery-operated, its weight, its dimensions (see above), and if it is suitable for high-altitude transportation. Please contact our special assistance team at least 48 hours before departure if you will be travelling with a battery-operated wheelchair or other mobility device.

Wet Cell batteries can be accepted either securely attached to the chair and stored upright or integrated into the device with the power disconnected to prevent accidental activation. If the battery is removable it must be placed in a box that is rigid, leak proof packaging which is impervious to battery fluid and surrounded by compatible absorbent material sufficient to absorb the total liquid contents.

The packaging on spillable batteries must be marked 'BATTERY WET WITH WHEELCHAIR' and marked 'Corrosive (Class 8)' and it must clearly display orientation (this way up) labels. We do not accept spare spillable batteries.

See also our guidance on Dangerous Goods.

*Use of the AMSAFE Cares harness is restricted on Aer Lingus Regional flights to children aged 2 years and over.

If you’re blind or visually impaired and require assistance for your journey through the airport, or you’re intending to travel with an assistance dog, we’ll be delighted to help you. It’s important, however, that your special assistance request is made at least 48 hours before you travel.

A member of our staff will be happy to escort you through the terminal and help you to board or disembark your flight (assuming 48-hour notice has been provided). Please feel free to advise our airport staff or cabin crew of your preferred method of being guided.

We’ll happily allow you to pre-board the aircraft; just contact our customer service staff at the boarding gate. Our cabin crew will provide you with an individual safety briefing.

Aer Lingus accepts trained service dogs for travel with passengers with a disability or reduced mobility. A trained service dog must be individually trained to do work or perform a task for the passenger's benefit.

The carriage of trained service dogs is subject to the conditions outlined below. Trained service dogs must also be compliant with the pet travel rules at your destination, see 'Travelling with Pets'.

We only accept dogs as service animals for carriage in the cabin of our aircraft. Pets, emotional support animals or service animals in training will not be accepted for travel on board any Aer Lingus aircraft.

For safety reasons, all trained service dogs must be harnessed, leashed or otherwise tethered at all times on the aircraft. If a passenger is unable to keep physical control over the service dog, even if the reason is related to the person's disability, Aer Lingus reserves the right to deny transport of the animal in the cabin.

General requirements for travelling with Trained Service Dogs on ALL Aer Lingus flights

• Service dogs must be harnessed, leashed or tethered at all times and must be clean and well-behaved.
• The following breeds of dog must be securely muzzled and be led by a sufficiently strong chain or leash not exceeding two metres in length by a person over the aged of sixteen years who is capable of controlling the dog: American Pit Bull Terrier; Bull Mastiff; Doberman Pinscher; English Bull Terrier; German Shepherd (Alsatian); and Japanese Akita.
• We recommend that you contact our Special Assistance team as early as possible to assign your seating and at the latest 24 hours before departure. We will make every reasonable effort to accommodate requests made within 24 hours of departure.
• Service dogs must be able to fit at your feet, under your seat or in your lap (more than one dog or a large dog may not be seated in your lap).
• If the service dog is in a kennel, it must fit under the seat in front of you with the dog in it.
• If you are travelling with your service dog in business class, you will forfeit the lie-flat feature in your seat order to accommodate your service animal on the floor space at your feet.
• Service dogs may not be seated in an exit row, protrude into or block any aisle.
• Service dogs travel for free provided they fit in the allotted space. If your service dog(s) will not fit into the allotted space, you may be required to pay for an additional seat if available, or to rebook on another flight with more seat availability or transport the dog as a pet.
• Final approval for travel will not happen until you arrive at the airport and it is determined that the animal will safely fit within the allotted space.

Specific requirements for flights within Europe

• Aer Lingus will accommodate accredited trained service dogs onboard our flights within the EU in accordance with EU Regulation 1107/2006. Accredited trained service dogs must be trained by an organization that is accepted by, and affiliated to, the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF) or Assistance Dogs International (ADI). Trained service dogs must have an Assistance Dog Identification Card provided by the qualifying organization.
• Passengers are requested to send us a special assistance request at least 48 hours in advance of travel to notify us of their intention to travel with a trained and accredited service dog.
• There is a limit of one service dog per passenger free of charge except for passengers travelling on connecting flights (same itinerary) to/from USA and Canada (see below).

Specific requirements for flights to/from North America

Aer Lingus will accommodate Trained Service Dogs onboard our services to/from the USA and Canada (including connecting flights on the same itinerary) subject to the following conditions:

• Passengers travelling to/from the USA must complete and submit the US DOT Service Animal Air Transportation Form available here prior to travel attesting to the animal's health, training and behaviour. If your flight time is eight hours or longer you are also required to complete a US DOT Service Animal Relief Attestation Form available here, attesting that the dog will not relieve itself in the aircraft or can do so in a sanitary manner.
• Passengers travelling to/from Canada must complete and submit the Service Animal Air Transportation Form prior to travel, attesting to the animal's health, training and behaviour.
• For travel booked 48 hours or more prior to departure, customers must submit this documentation 48 hours prior to your flight via special assistance request.
• For travel booked less than 48 hours prior to departure, you may present the documentation at the airport check-in desk or departure gate.
• There is a limit of two service dogs (at no charge) per passenger including passengers travelling on connecting flights (same itinerary) to Europe.

If you have any difficulty accessing the required forms please contact our Special Assistance team.

Aer Lingus is not obliged to accept service dogs for carriage if the required documentation has not been provided by the passenger prior to boarding.

If you’re deaf or hearing impaired and wish to contact us with any queries, to request booking assistance or to notify us of your requirements, please send us a special assistance request. We ask that you give us a minimum of 48 hours’ notice of your intention to travel. We’re here to help you every step of the way – please advise our airport staff and/or cabin crew of your preferred method of communication.

At the airport, monitors will display the most up-to-date information on your check-in area, boarding gate and boarding time. Please keep an eye on the screens, as last minute changes can happen. Switch your hearing aid to ‘T’ at airports where you see signs that induction loops are in use. This will make airport announcements more audible by reducing the background noise of a busy terminal.

We’ll be happy for you to pre-board the aircraft, just talk to our customer service staff at the boarding gate. Our cabin crew will provide you with an individual safety briefing and you may review our safety information cards for each aircraft type.

When you’re on board, your hearing aid may be used at any time during your flight. For safety reasons however, you won’t be able to sit at emergency exit rows.

If you cannot manage any of these activities unaided, please contact our special assistance department as soon as possible and at least 48 hours in advance of your flight to confirm your circumstances.

The decision as to whether a passenger must be accompanied by a carer will be made by Aer Lingus when the passenger makes their circumstances known. Please note that if a decision is made that a passenger must be accompanied by a carer, we will provide the reasons for this decision, in writing if requested, within five working days.

If you use a cane, walker, rollator, crutches, or prosthetic devices, you do not need to inform us in advance. However, you should consider requesting a wheelchair to bring you to your gate. Walkers and rollators will be placed in the hold. For flights operated by Emerald Airlines, there is a limit on the number of devices due to the small size of the aircraft's hold.

Aer Lingus may seek a doctor’s advice on clearance of passengers with learning difficulties who are travelling alone.

Such passengers are required to provide us with a minimum of 48 hours’ notice of their intention to travel. Please contact our special assistance department, who’ll be happy to help.

Together with the Kinney Center at Saint Joseph's University, we have developed a series of visual guides that can be used by families to prepare and familiarise individuals with autism for their upcoming trip. These visual guides follow each stage of a typical customer journey on Aer Lingus with slight variations - for example, in-flight entertainment screens are only available on our transatlantic flights.

In addition, we welcome any family or companion travelling with someone on the autism spectrum to send us a special assistance request with the name and booking reference of your upcoming flight on Aer Lingus and we will do our best to make your flight a pleasant one.

Download the Visual Guides