In a case where a 65-year-old suffering from disability was left without wheelchair assistance at Istanbul airport and remained stranded for nearly 24 hours, a Punjab District Consumer Commission has directed two air carriers, including an international airline , to compensate her with a Rs 60,000 payout. The man, who is 55 per cent physically disabled, was found to have received his baggage two days after reaching his final destination in London from Amritsar via Delhi and Istanbul.

President Jagdishwar Kumar Chopra and member Mandeep Kaur observed that merely providing an option of rescheduling without additional charges does not absolve an airline of its obligation to provide appropriate assistance and reasonable care to a passenger, particularly one suffering from physical disability.

The commission on October 21 noted that the air carriers had failed to explain how the senior citizen was unable to board the connecting flight and to prove that they had provided necessary assistance.…