Airports are stressful enough for most travellers with multiple long queues, crowds and frantic security checks. For some with autism, however, this can be enough to make foreign travelling seem almost impossible.
Newcastle Airport and British Airways teamed together to calm the chaos of flying to make air travel accessible to a group of pupils with autism. Teachers of ESPA College in Sunderland, a specialist college catering to pupils across the autism spectrum, reached out to make the school trip happen. Experienced BA pilot Captain Steve Allright travelled to the college to give a talk to the students and answered any questions they had about the experience. Four of the students were then given a tour of Newcastle Airport and were even able to experience a real BA flight to London and back. This school trip allowed the pupils to enjoy a smooth flight for the first time in their lives and allowed the pupils to experience what everyone else may sometimes take for granted.
Newcastle Airport arranged ‘autism passports’ to enable pupils to fast-track overwhelming queues, including that for the plane, and to avoid crowded areas. The airport has made these passports available online so that autistic passengers can fill them out before they travel. It allows passengers to fill in details of what staff can do to make the experience easier, factors which could increase anxiety and any preferred communication methods. Travellers can take the passport to the passenger assistance desk upon arrival at the airport and staff will take it from there. Further information can be found here.
Trip leader Wendy Hannah, a teacher at the college, commented: “Overall this has been a hugely enriching experience for our students and it has proven the autism passports are a massive step forward in making a positive experience for people with learning difficulties”. Well done to ESPA College for putting such an incredible and inclusive idea into action!
A similar scheme is in place at Manchester Airport and you can pre-book other forms of assistance at many other UK airports.
