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As part of a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the European Disability Forum (EDF) and the Airports Council International (ACI) EUROPE last year, EDF runs the Accessible Airports Award. This is a yearly award that aims to honour the best airport in Europe in terms of its level of accessibility as well as the range and the quality of the assistance services that it offers. The award is also intended to encourage other airports to continue their work on removing the barriers that people with disabilities and persons with reduced mobility can still face when travelling by air.

This year’s Accessible Airport Award went to Larnaka International Airport. The judges considered that the airport stands out for its remarkable accessible friendly initiatives, namely in terms of boarding equipment (e.g. the “Eagle lift” facilitates the boarding of wheelchairs) and in terms of the level of accessibility with regard to check-in machines and e-Gates.

The judges noted that Larnaca International Airport offers interesting additional features, such as sockets for electric wheelchairs, a free parking for 120 minutes and cooperation with Senior Travel Groups that have expertise on the accessibility for persons with reduced mobility, as well as much improved accessibility features on the airport website.

The jury for the Accessible Airport Award was comprised of the EDF Executive Committee Members as well as Herald Ruijters, Director for Investment, Innovative & Sustainable Transport at the Directorate General for Transport (DG MOVE) of the European Commission.

The Accessible Airport Award was presented yesterday during ACI EUROPE General Assembly in Paris, France. It was handed over to the representatives from Larnaca International Airport by Albert Prévos, Member of the EDF Executive Committee and President of the French Council of Disabled People for European Affairs (CFHE).

Last year’s winner, Dublin Airport was highly commended for the continuing high quality of its accessibility services.

Full article.