Special Assistance

Request Assistance

If you need assistance while you're here, our trained team can help at every stage of the journey:

Getting to and from points of onward travel: taxi, car park, DLR or other public transport
Arrival at the airport before a flight: car park, drop-off area and Departures
Check-in and security screening procedures
Getting to the waiting lounge and departure gate
Baggage retrieval
Boarding and getting off the plane
Customs and immigration procedures
Getting to connecting flights when in transit, including help before and after Security

All our London City Airport staff who assist passengers, receive relevant training, in line with EU legislation. This includes disability awareness, disability equality and first-aid training, with annual refresher courses.

How to arrange airport assistance

Please tell your airline, tour operator or travel agent what kind of help you'll need. You can do this when you book your flight, or up to 48 hours before you travel.

If you can't book assistance before you get here, please go to the Information Desk in the terminal - our staff are always ready to help.

For more information on Special Assistance at London City Airport, please call +44 (0)20 7646 0000.

Getting around with AccessAble

London City Airport has worked with AccessAble, the leading provider of access information for disabled people in the UK, to create detailed guides of the airport aimed at making travel easier.  Click here to view all the guides.

Click here to view the AccessAble parking at London City Airport guide.

Mobility Equipment

You are welcome to travel with your own mobility equipment such as electric wheelchairs but you are advised to notify your airline in advance.

When booking your flight, your airline will advise you on how to prepare your mobility equipment for the journey.

If you are flying with your own equipment, you can take it, if appropriate, up to the aircraft .

SD2 wheelchair

If you are not travelling in your own wheelchair, this is the type of chair that will be used within the terminal building, with a seat with of 20 inches, equipped with seat cushion.

Aisle Chairs

Narrow enough for to fit the aisle of the aircraft, smaller aisle chairs are used for passengers who need assistance getting onto the aircraft and into the aircraft seat.

Bulmor Front Bull Ambilift

The passenger cabin can be lowered completely to the ground. This speeds up the entire boarding process and offers space for two wheelchairs and one attendant each.

There is a weight restriction on our equipment. Our ambilift and aisle chair is only capable of lifting and carrying a maximum weight of 150kg.

Other Assistance

If you or someone you are travelling with might need assistance, you can request a special lanyard to wear so that our staff can help you further as you travel through the airport. You can pick one of the lanyards from the Information Desk at the Terminal building terminal – or ask for one(s) to be posted to you.

Please email us at least 7 days in advance with the details below and we’ll take care of it.

Full name (incl. middle names)
UK address
Flight date and number(s)
Departure and/or arrival time

Sunflower Lanyards

The sunflower lanyard will not give you fast track rights but it will just inform staff that patience, care and a bit more attention maybe required.

Business Disability Forum

Our teams collaborate with all kinds of organisations to find ways we can offer every passenger the best possible travel experience.

To keep improving, we hold a Passengers with Restricted Mobility (PRM) and Hidden Disabilities Forum every quarter to gather feedback from charities and disability organisations.

The purpose of the forum is to provide the airport with feedback on how we can improve the service we provide to passengers with reduced mobility and hidden disabilities. The minutes from the last meetings are available here:

Autism

London City Airport has been working with the National Autistic Society to find out what they think of the way we do things and how we can improve the physical environment in the airport. The National Autistic Society has advice for those travelling with children or adults with autism (autism.org.uk).

If either yourself or someone you are travelling with is on the autistic spectrum, please let us know in advance by emailing customerfeedback@londoncityairport.com and we will arrange for a member of our team to join you and walk you through to your departure gate.

Once you are in the departure lounge and you are waiting for your flight you can head to the airport's West pier which has additional seating. The area is much quieter and has natural daylight.

Passengers with dementia

Airports can be noisy and confusing places and if you have dementia the experience is often a stressful one. London City Airport has worked with the Alzheimer’s Society to roll out the Dementia Friends scheme across the airport.

Dementia Friends is the biggest ever initiative to change people’s perceptions of dementia, aiming to transform the way the nation thinks, acts and talks about the condition.

The Alzheimer’s Society has also produced a downloadable document with information on planning your holiday and making the journey.

Travelling with a colostomy

Together with the Colostomy Association, London City Airport has delivered relevant training to all our security staff. The training is now part of all our introductory and refresher courses for security agents.

If you require any special assistance, please let us know in advance by emailing customerfeedback@londoncityairport.com.

Parkinson's

Parkinson's UK offers advice for travellers online.

Other useful information

Please note, for operational reasons, at times you may be asked to wait at the landside assisted travel seating area.

If you need more information, email us or come and speak to us at the Information Desk on arrival.

General Advice

Security screening

If you require any additional support while going through Security please email us in advance at customerfeedback@londoncityairport.com. We will be able to arrange fast-track security screening as well as separate or alternative screening. If you are using an airport wheelchair and wish to walk through the archway, you're welcome to do so. Please note, we have state of the art CT scanner technology in operation at London City Airport, this means that you can keep all your belongings in your hand luggage and there is no need to take anything out.

Gates

Please remember to check your gates on the flight information screens and remember that the gate number can change at short notice. You can also check departure gates with your airline at check-in. most of the gates are a short walk from the main departure lounge. Gates 9,10,12,14 are the furthest away.

Reserved seating There is an assisted travel seating area both landside and in the main departure lounge where you will find reserved seating. There is also space for wheelchair users to use this space.

Assistance Dogs

We welcome passengers who travel with assistance dogs at the airport; there are a few things that you need to organise prior to departure.

Any dogs travelling out of the UK must be micro-chipped, fully vaccinated and need to be registered with the European Pets Travel Scheme (PETS). To find out more or register for the PETS scheme, please click here.

It is also important that you notify your airline that you are travelling with an assistance dog at least 48 hours prior to travelling.

Passengers traveling with service animals can find relief facilities landside, opposite the drop-off.

For further information on travelling with assistance dogs, go to the guide dogs website.

Staff Training and Training Record

In accordance with EC 1107/2006 and ECAC Doc 30, staff providing assistance to passengers, and staff in direct contact with the travelling public, will be provided with appropriate training including disability awareness and disability-equality training. London City Airport also provides first-aid training to all of its PRM (Passengers with Restricted Mobility) agents and refresher training to all staff.

Our customer-facing staff have had specialist training on assisting passengers with non-visible disabilities to ensure passengers have a seamless journey through the airport. The training was delivered by an expert not-for-profit organisation called Business Disability Forum.

Getting To And From The Airport

By public transport

Docklands Light Railway (DLR). There is a lift available from DLR platforms to the Terminal building
Buses. Step-free wheelchair access is available on the buses serving the airport
Black taxis, chauffeur cars and mini cabs. Black taxis with built-in wheelchair access are available just next to the airport entrance, or you can arrange mini cabs or chauffeur cars in advance online.

Visit Transport for London for more information on accessible public transport in the capital.

By car

London City Airport offers 30 minutes of free parking to Blue Badge holders, please follow signs to the Pick Up Area. If you are being dropped off by car, a convenient place to do so is is the Drop Off Area in front of the Terminal building.

Passenger Pick up, Long Stay car park and Car hire

Our Drop off, Pick up, Long Stay parking and Car hire are accessible from the west via Connaught Bridge and east via Redgrave Bridge/Albert Road.

For more information on parking at the airport, please click here.

How Are We Doing?

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If you need any extra support to use the airport, we can help