For years confined to a wheelchair, she was unable to take her flight from Orio al Serio (Bergamo) to Bordeaux and had to stay grounded. The motivation? The battery of her electric wheelchair “which has the permitted voltage cannot be flown because it has an e-bike sticker”: this is what Valeria Roberta Vetrano wrote on her Instagram page, attacking Ryanair which last Monday rejected at check in.
left “on foot”
“I am told that the battery is not original – he writes – they claim that I would have assembled the vehicle (huh?!?). At this point I present the manufacturer’s certification. Nothing to do. They tell me to leave the motorized part on the ground (called Stricker), if I want to leave (note to the reader: these vehicles do not work as manual wheelchairs if the front part is detached), in short, Ryanair has the solution for everything: leave the pram, go on foot! What a good idea!!! Because I didn’t think of that before?!?” Vetrano also denounced that “the disabled assistance disappears after ten minutes and leaves me hanging” and adds that “what has always been a good routine, travelling, seeing my friends, has become an inaccessible undertaking for me (thanks Ryanair)”.
Ryanair note
In an official note, however, Ryanair explained that “the assistance staff denied the passenger travel because she had not provided the specifications of her wheelchair before the flight. To ensure access for passengers traveling with their own wheelchair in fact, it is necessary to fill in the appropriate online form before the flight. Ryanair regrets that the passenger was unable to travel: she will be reaccommodated on an alternative flight”. Sacbo, the company that manages the Bergamo airport, explained that arriving at 20.30 on 5 December, at check-in the employees “verified that Vetrano had not filled in the appropriate online form before the flight, required by Ryanair” and “asked her for documentation proving the power of the wheelchair’s lithium battery. It thus turned out that, against a maximum allowed limit of 300Wh, yours had a power of 522Wh. The plate on the battery of the wheelchair indicated instead 300Wh, not coherent with the supporting documentation shown by the lady – concludes Sacbo -. The discrepancy in the power data of the lithium battery has therefore generated the reported boarding problems”. Reasons that were not enough for ENAC.
ENAC’s comment
Reasons that were not enough for ENAC. “Unfortunately, we still have to register a case of denied boarding to a passenger with reduced mobility – commented the President of Enac Pierluigi Di Palma – As soon as we heard about it, we immediately intervened, urging the airport directors to ensure full protection with their ordinance of passenger rights”. “As regards the specific case of Valeria Roberta Vetrano – concludes Di Palma – investigations are underway to verify the possible liability of the carrier”.
