Overview

I am not keen on this kind of assistance service, I much prefer being given at least the option to be independent around the airport and meet my flight at the gate. Not to be with Gatwick. Arrival: We waited 20 minutes on the plane, assuming we were waiting for the lift to come. Eventually someone came and said that they'd just be 10 more minutes, the wheelchair was here and they were just waiting for the person to come and push me. Yes, we had been waiting for someone I did not need! Since it was gone midnight by this time, I was not a happy bunny! We wove through layers upon layers of airport, up for this, down for that, everything is a long way. Departure: We had actually only gone to the assistance desk to ask them if they had anyone with a screwdriver who could fix my wheelchair, as we'd been told by the special assistance check in that we could go straight through. Having been fed into the assistance system, we were given a flashing, vibrating pager thing. The pager went off as we were waiting for the toilet, and as it kept on and on going off we got anxious and abandoned our toilet trip and hurried back to the assistance area. At this point we were asked to follow a driver in one of those little mobility vehicles. The vehicle then took another passenger to get some shopping in Boots! Not sure why we were hauled from the loo to be party to this, but they wouldn't let us just go and wait at the gate "No ma'am, I have to take you, you are on my list". He didn't seem to be aware that I was deaf, as my daughter told me he kept shouting at my back. We were then taken to a room with no screen, no flight information, no updates, nobody talking to us, just put in a room. The staff must have been aware of the delay to our flight by this stage, as I got a text from my husband letting me know, but they didn't seem to think we passengers would be interested in flight information. We were given no timescales, no information on what would happen next, just sit there until the next thing happens. No toilets here either, so half an hour on we still haven't been able to get to the loo. Other passengers in the gate area have departure delay information, toilets and shops with refreshments, we have nothing. Next up we're all loaded into a van. There was equipment to strap down my chair but this wasn't done, then we drove out to park next to the plane for a further 20 minutes. Still we haven't been officially told about our ever increasing delay. What a relief to be out of the van an into the plane! We spent well over an hour being herded by assistance staff, an hour that other passengers could use at their leisure.

Transport & Parking

Everything at Gatwick is far. Very, very far! Buses to transfer to parking or to hotels are a long, long way, we passed signs saying "8 more minutes from here" when getting to the transfer bus areas. It was lightly uphill on a tarmac surface, just a very, very long way! The transfer shuttle to the South Terminal was accessible, though, so if parking at the other terminal is easier, the transfer over to the North terminal is quick and easy.

Access

Toilets

Staff