Woman criticises 'discrimination' after guide dog barred from flight

A visually-impaired woman has made it back to her home in Lisburn after she and her guide dog were controversially barred from boarding an Easyjet flight last night.

Joanna Jones and her dog Orla were told they could not board the flight from Gatwick to Belfast because she did not have the correct paperwork to prove Orla was a trained assistance dog.

Her plight attracted media attention after Mrs Jones appealed for help on Twitter, with the story quickly spreading across the social media site and earning her more than 800 new followers in a short space of time.

Mrs Jones said she had never been asked for paperwork for Orla before and had flown out of Belfast without it.

In a statement, Easyjet apologised for the inconvenience, but insisted that its staff did nothing wrong.

"EasyJet's regulations make clear that documentation must be carried showing that they are a trained guide dog," said the airline's Corporate Affairs Manager Andrew McConnell.

"Guide dogs receive intensive training from accredited organisations to ensure that they can cope with the conditions on board an aircraft.

"In this case, unfortunately Miss Jones did not have this documentation with her and by the time it was faxed through she missed her flight.

"EasyJet staff offered every assistance to Miss Jones and transferred her free of charge onto the first available Easyjet flight this morning."

Mrs Jones, who was forced to overnight in London the alternative flight today, said the ordeal was very distressing.

"I have faced discrimination before many times," she said.

"But not to this extent, and not to this level of it being down to a minor detail."

However one of the parties involved was unperturbed, she later revealed on Twitter.

"The only one not bothered by missing the flight is Orla!," Mrs Jones tweeted.

"Lol, poor pup isn''t keen on flying!"