Heathrow International Airport

This review of the wheelchair accessibility of Heathrow International Airport (London) is from Summer 2023.

Heathrow is a major international hub, and is so busy that they have had to limit flights due to overtaxing its resources. We have flown British Airways and Virgin Atlantic (partnered with Delta) in and out of Heathrow.

I was stunned to see that Heathrow had the Eagle Passenger Lifter by Haycomp. This is a portable hoyer lift that lifts people out of their wheelchairs/scooters, carries them onto the plane and down the aisle, and then lowers them into their airplane seat (and vice versa upon landing).  This means that no one has to lift the body of the wheelchair user—it is an easy, controlled lift and is much safer/smoother than being lifted into an aisle chair.  The team was extremely knowledgeable about how to put the sling under me and how to operate the lift. They used the lift to raise me out of my seat, carry me down the aisle and onto the jetway, and then lower me into my scooter. 

Note: I first used this lift in Sydney, Australia in December 2019. They informed me that a quadriplegic passenger had designed it for use in Australia, and was going to be required for every airport in Australia. I am beyond elated to see it in London, and hope it comes to the United States at some point.

The assistance team helped us navigate through the airport, through customs, and to the taxi stand.  It is a large airport, but was relatively easy to navigate.  And customs did not take long to clear as it had a separate disability assistance lane.  The bathrooms all had wheelchair accessible stalls with handrails.

The taxi stand helped us call for a wheelchair accessible taxi.  As all Black Cabs are wheelchair accessible, this does not take long.  The taxi ride, on the other hand, took a long time and was not smooth at all—read about that here.  😊

Another option would have been to take the train/Tube from Heathrow into London, which we had previously done on another trip.  The train takes about an hour and the train’s climate control can be spotty.  But you avoid rush hour and the bouncy driving of London’s surface streets.  To access the trains, just use your credit card to tap through the turnstyles, and then roll onto the train—the Heathrow stop is accessible.  Just be sure that your destination Tube stop is also accessible—the map has a letter and color coding system for marking each station’s level of accessibility. Upon exiting, remember to tap your card at the turnstyle so your card is charged for the correct distance. 

Overall, I was very impressed with the wheelchair accessibility of Heathrow International Airport (London). It had improved drastically since 2019, and I look forward to seeing that trend continue.