Ryanair. Have you ever flown with Ryanair? The airline which boasts how cheap their flights are. Well, they may be cheap but a few months ago a well published story in the press brought to the public's attention that the no-thrills airline charged a wheelchair owner an extra£18 because of his chair! This really pissed people off and the policy was ruled unlawful under the good old, Disability Discrimination Act.

The wheelchair user, Bob Ross has cerebral palsy and arthritis which makes standing for a long period of time bloody uncomfortable. He expressed his anger with Ryanair,

"Ryanair were operating a two-tier fares system - a cheap deal for non disabled passengers but a raw deal for disabled travelers."

Once hearing Bob's ordeal with the travel company Chairman of the Disability Rights Commission, Bert Massie said,

"Ryanair's wheelchair charge was a slap in the face to disabled people wanting to take advantage of low cost air travel. The judgment has confirmed that it is Ryanair's responsibility to pick up the costs. I suggest they do this with some humility."

However, Ryanair are sticking to their guns and are thinking about appealing against the case. They believe that they have done nothing wrong and haven't decriminalized against disabled people. A spokesman from Ryanair gave his side of the argument,

"Ryanair operates to 86 airports all over Europe, and at over 80 of these airports the airport operator provides the disabled assistance through its terminal buildings on a free of charge basis."

Part of the difficulty is that the airline employees various different companies to carry out an assortment of jobs such as luggage handling and airport facilities This makes it more hard to find someone to point the finger at.

The good news is that a high percent of UK airlines follow a published code of practice which helps disabled travelers. Although this is not compulsory and companies like Ryanair are under no obligation to apply within these rules.

So until the law is changed is always better to check before you spunk out on an aircraft ticket. Be like a terrorist and plan your flights with caution!