Ryanair secures partial victory in wheelchair challenge

Ryanair has secured a partial victory in its legal challenge to a British court ruling obliging the airline to provide wheelchairs to disabled passengers.

Last January, a London County Court ruled that the Irish airline had discriminated against a disabled man by charging him £18 (€26) for the use of a wheelchair at Stansted Airport.

Ryanair had argued that it had no duty to provide the wheelchair and that this was the responsibility of the British Airport Authority.

In its ruling today, the Court of Appeal in London said airlines and the Stansted authorities should share responsibility equally for providing wheelchair services.

Ryanair has welcomed the ruling and said it would respond by halving the 73c wheelchair levy it imposed on all its tickets following the January judgement.

Ryanair's shares were trading at €5.27 on the ISEQ mid-morning, 1c up from their starting price of €5.26.