Overview

Corfu has one airport. When I visited in April it was just before the start of the Greek holiday season. The airport was still being renovated and I was told a German company had taken it over. I had a bad experience but hopefully this was an out of season travel blip. However I was not impressed with the special assistance service.

Transport & Parking

There are flights from UK airports direct to Corfu

Access

There are ramps and an ambi-lift.

Toilets

The new accessible toilets, see photo, were clean and spacious, with grab rails. There was no emergency cord, no soap, no hand dryer and no mirror. I did go next door to the ladies, just to see if all the new toilets were incomplete. In the ladies there were a row of sinks with soap and hand dryers. I felt as a disabled person I was a second class citizen as basic toileting facilities were missing.

Staff

Outward journey: There was another person using crutches and me on the flight. Both of us were travelling independently. I was asked to walk into the ambi-lift, while the other person was put in a wheelchair and brought through. Once we got off the ambi-lift the person pushing the wheelchair pushed the person into the terminus. No one asked or spoke to me about my special assistance which I had been booked at the time of my flight 8 months earlier. I was left to walk up the ramp after my flight, which arrived in at 10pm, so it had been a long day for me. When I got into the building there was a lady at the door. I asked about my special assistance. She advised me to go through passport security, baggage reclaim and when exiting there was an office where I could complain/ ask about it. I explained that would defeat the purpose as I was needing help through the airport. I asked her to help me. She radioed someone, kept telling me someone would be there in 5 minutes and that it was the airlines fault for not booking it. It was 30 minutes later when someone came to collect me and by that time everyone else on the flight had gone through security clearance. When the special assistance did arrive it was helpful. However it was so stressful sitting waiting wondering if it would ever turn up. When I got through to the arrival hall my taxi was waiting for me, thankfully he was very accommodating and my stress levels started to decrease. Homeward journey: I arrived at the airport 2 hours before the flight as recommended. I went to check in but you were not able to leave your suitcases there you had to take it to another part of the building. There were 2 people on the check in desk and she told me she would come to take me through security. She came and dropped off a wheelchair and then I was left sitting for 40 minutes. During that time there was couple in the special assistance waiting area and the check in person came and took them through. No one told me what was happening. I asked a couple of police officers who where there and they went to desk and came back told me to wait as they couldn't do anything. By this time I was in tears the check in desk was now closed. I felt totally forgotten. When the check in person returned she took me through security quickly. I noticed that there were a lot of security guards on and couldn't understand with so many staff standing around why special assistance could not have happened sooner. When I got to the departure lounge, it was ok but I was too anxious to be able to relax. A customer service officer came to complete a questionnaire with me about my experience of special assistance, I said it was rubbish and I felt discriminated against in my treatment. I asked her where I could complain and she did not have details or offer to find out for me and I was left feeling that my concerns about ableism were being ignored.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

As I said it was the start of the season, it wasn't good. I hope anyone else flying to Corfu has a better experience than I did.

Photos