Severely disabled Quamer Khaliq was abandoned on board a Thomas Cook Airlines jet for more than two hours (Picture: MEN)

A severely disabled man was left on a plane for over two hours after it had landed after the assistance he was meant to get didn’t arrive.

Quamer Khaliq, 44, has used a wheelchair since birth because of spinal muscular atrophy.

He remained in his seat after his Thomas Cook Airlines flight touched down at Manchester Airport following a nine-hour flight from Orlando in Florida where he had been on a £6,000 trip to visit Disney World with his daughter, 11.

After all the other passengers had left, Quamer, his carer and his daughter remained in their seats as the cabin crew and pilot disembarked.




Cleaners came and went and he was only able to get off the plane after newly recruited cabin crew came aboard for training and he threatened to dial 999 to get the fire service to rescue him.

The new recruits’ tutor raised the alarm but it took another 30 minutes for a wheelchair to be brought to the plane and Quamer was finally lifted out

of his seat.

Quamer Khaliq had been to Disney Land with his daughter (Picture: MEN)

Quamer says he suffered ‘distress and humiliation’.

He had booked the trip through DisabledHolidays.com and the company says it booked ‘special assistance’ for him at Manchester Airport.

ABM Aviation, which was only awarded the contract in April, has apologised and promised to investigate.

Mr Khaliq, from Ashton-under-Lyne, said: ‘There was a moment when I was actually crying. My daughter saw me crying. I wanted this to be special for her.

‘This was one of her dreams, to go to Disney World. It spoiled it a little bit. She saw me a little bit distressed. When we eventually got home she

went to her room and didn’t come out for a good period.’

The fiasco meant that Quamer had spent almost 13 hours in his seat – he had boarded the aircraft in Florida 90 minutes before the rest of the

passengers.

Quamer said: ‘I was in a lot of distress, especially with my daughter who didn’t leave my side. She stayed there with me the whole time. I was more worried about her.’

The fiasco meant that Quamer had spent almost 13 hours in his seat (Picture: Rex)

The airport contractor which provides assistance for disabled passengers, ABM Aviation, apologised and said it was reviewing the incident.

They said in a statement: ‘ABM Aviation endeavours to work closely with airports, airlines and other service providers to ensure a seamless service to all passengers.

‘We are concerned to hear of Quamer Khaliq’s complaint, received 13th June 2019, about his special assistance experience at Manchester Airport.

‘Please be assured that we take all passengers feedback very seriously and are actively reviewing the situation to ensure a smoother process for the future.

‘In the meantime, ABM Aviation sends their sincere apologies and assurance that we are deeply committed to service excellence for all passengers we serve.’

A Thomas Cook Airlines spokeswoman said: ‘Mr. Khaliq’s experience was clearly unacceptable.

He arrived at Manchester Airport (Picture: Getty)

‘On arrival into Manchester, our crew made multiple attempts to connect with Manchester Airport’s special assistance providers, and a member of the Thomas Cook Airlines team stayed with Mr. Khaliq until he was met at the aircraft.



‘We have asked Manchester Airport to look into what went wrong with its provider to ensure that this does not happen again.’

A Manchester Airport spokesman said: ‘We are committed to ensuring all our customers enjoy a positive experience when travelling through Manchester Airport, and are therefore disappointed to hear the standards we expect of our partners do not appear to have been met on this occasion.

‘We have raised this matter as a priority with ABM Aviation, our special assistance provider, and will work with all parties concerned to understand what happened here, and will ensure any lessons are learned.

‘As an airport, we have invested heavily in the services we provide to passengers requiring special assistance over the past 12 months.

‘This includes the introduction of the Sunflower Lanyard for customers with hidden disabilities and setting up a dedicated airport Disability

Engagement Forum, which has played an important role in developing our plan to improve performance.

‘Furthermore, we changed special assistance provider at Manchester at the start of this financial year and heavily invested in resource and new

equipment.’

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