Australian man says he was booted from Qatar Airways flight because of his disability

A man requiring a wheelchair claims he was booted from his Qatar Airways flight after boarding the plane and left stranded at Melbourne airport because of his disability. The story of Craig Nolan, an Australian man with spina bifida whose plan to return to his home in Finland via Doha was disrupted, comes after the disability royal commission heard evidence in recent weeks that airlines are “dehumanising” Australians with disabilities, who they treat as an “afterthought”. On Monday, Nolan arrived at Tullamarine airport for his flight to Doha, having already alerted the airline to his disability and the fact he would be travelling solo – something the well-travelled 43-year-old has grown used to doing. Nolan had been in Australia for several months, having returned in September for a family funeral. Nolan said he was made to check in his wheelchair and transferred to an aisle seat – a narrow chair that requires another person to push it that some airlines use to take passengers to their seat on a plane. This involved ground staff lifting him up over a roughly large step from the airbridge onto the plane. However, before the flight took off, Nolan said he told one of the cabin crew he would need assistance to reach the in-cabin bathroom, because he needed someone to push his aisle chair there. Soon after, he said another member of the cabin crew told Nolan he had to leave the flight. Nolan was stranded at the airport, with Melbourne airport putting him up in a hotel initially. Story has further details.<br/>