A question for those with a mobility problem...

[Toy Boy]

I developed a plantar problem in my right foot two months ago, making it difficult to walk far. After a month and no progress, I decided to pay for ultrasound shockwave therapy at BHP. I just had the sixth and final session and it feels a lot better than it did, though I'm aware that it's still a bit fragile. I fly back to Heathrow with EVA next Monday and I'm wondering how well I'm going to cope with the long distances you sometimes have to trek in the airports? 

It's feeling good enough now that I can easily get through check-in, security and passport control. My first port of call in Swampy will be the EVA lounge as I'm flying in business. I'm pretty sure I can manage that without a problem as there's a moving walkway for some of the distance to the junction with the E, F, and G concourses. EVA's lounge is down one level in F but, last year, the aircraft departed from a gate at the opposite end of the D concourse, and that was a long hike that I'd rather not do. I've no idea what gate they're departing from at the moment, though. I gather that the only way of getting assistance in Swampy is to request a wheelchair, which seems a bit over the top, as there are no buggies to cart you around. 

Similarly, EVA uses a gate in the satellite terminal at T2 in Heathrow and, even when you don't have a gammy leg or foot, it's a very long trek to get from there to the arrivals hall and passport control. At least they have the electric golf buggies in LHR which can take you the longest distance and then you can navigate the rest yourself. 

Has anyone asked for assistance at Swampy and Heathrow and did you do it, was it via the airline beforehand or at the check-in desk? How is it arranged, as in can I get a wheelchair just to pick me up from the BC lounge in Swampy and take me to the gate if it's miles away? I assume at Heathrow there'll be golf buggies waiting to take the walking wounded to arrivals, can you just hop on one of these or do you need a ticket or voucher of some sort to use them? 

Is there anything else useful I need to know? Thanks for any feedback based on experience of the system for old crocks, lol. 

[karon steve]

I arranged this for a friend flying on Thai air. I did it in advance with the airline. Wheelchair from  check in to the gate and then from the plane to immigration and on to the exit in Heathrow. He was very lucky as the guy at Heathrow took him down into the tube station and put him on the train.
I have seen people being dropped off at the lounge and then collected later for departure.

[Toy Boy]

8 minutes ago, karon steve said:

I arranged this for a friend flying on Thai air. I did it in advance with the airline. Wheelchair from  check in to the gate and then from the plane to immigration and on to the exit in Heathrow. He was very lucky as the guy at Heathrow took him down into the tube station and put him on the train.
I have seen people being dropped off at the lounge and then collected later for departure.

Thanks. I'll see if I can contact EVA in Bangkok and ask them for a chair from the lounge to the gate, and then a buggy at LHR from the gate to arrivals. 

[boydeste]

2 hours ago, Toy Boy said:

Thanks. I'll see if I can contact EVA in Bangkok and ask them for a chair from the lounge to the gate, and then a buggy at LHR from the gate to arrivals. 

I have seen people getting assistance from the lounge to the gate and at Heathrow too, so the airline should be able to help you there for sure. You may be better off asking for it from check in, just so you get priority through to the lounge too!

T2 to immigration is one of the longest walks I have ever done at an airport.

 

[Toy Boy]

14 hours ago, boydeste said:

I have seen people getting assistance from the lounge to the gate and at Heathrow too, so the airline should be able to help you there for sure. You may be better off asking for it from check in, just so you get priority through to the lounge too!

T2 to immigration is one of the longest walks I have ever done at an airport.

 

Last year, EVA used a lounge (was it Air Canada?) right next to the gate at LHR so that part at least shouldn't an issue. The doctor in rehab at BHP thinks that, by the time I come back in October, the foot should be much better and - hopefully - I won't have this problem on the return leg.

I completely agree, the trek from the security checks in T2, down a floor and across the terminal to the connection with the satellite terminal, then down that huge escalator with a long walk beneath the apron and then up another one, is completely ridiculous. They should have built a much less strenuous way to get there, but I guess it would probably have added another £50 billion to the cost as it might have disturbed a bat or a newt, lol. 

[Toy Boy]

I just checked and, according to Skyscanner, BR67 today, at least, is departing from Gate E10 which is walkable for me from the lounge. 

[Bazle]

4 hours ago, Toy Boy said:

Last year, EVA used a lounge (was it Air Canada?) right next to the gate at LHR so that part at least shouldn't an issue.

They now use the United lounge, which is even closer!

[Toy Boy]

21 hours ago, Bazle said:

They now use the United lounge, which is even closer!

It may well have been United a year ago, at least at was a proper lounge and not one of those grim pay-for-entry commercial places used these days by many airlines to save money. 

I'm surprised at Swampy having such limited options for people with mobility issues to get around the airport's expanses. I've never needed it before so haven't really noticed the deal in other airports like Doha, although it's got an internal train service which helps with part of the airport, but I've never noticed any golf buggies there in around ten visits. Are the electric golf buggies at Heathrow an exception? 

And speaking of long walks, I haven't used the new terminal at Swampy but, last year, I passed the entrance to it from the D-concourse on my way to the EVA flight. Unless there's a direct short-cut from the security and passport checks straight over there, it's already a serious hike to get to the E-F-G junction and then back along D for older types just to get to the start of the tunnel to the new terminal. I assume there must be moving walkways down there to cover the distance because the new terminal really looked like it was a long way off. 

[KWA]

2 hours ago, Toy Boy said:

I assume there must be moving walkways down there to cover the distance because the new terminal really looked like it was a long way off.

There's an underground train to take you to the Satellite Concourse.  Emirates have already opened their lounge there, Qatar's is under way and there's a Miracle Lounge, so users of Sat-1 have options there.

[Toy Boy]

21 hours ago, KWA said:

There's an underground train to take you to the Satellite Concourse. 

Thanks for the info, I didn't think the Thais would be as stingy on the infrastructure as we Brits are nowadays. 

[Toy Boy]

On 8/18/2025 at 7:35 PM, boydeste said:

I have seen people getting assistance from the lounge to the gate and at Heathrow too, so the airline should be able to help you there for sure. You may be better off asking for it from check in, just so you get priority through to the lounge too!

I called up the EVA helpline in Bangkok this afternoon and asked about getting assistance. Yes, you can get a wheelchair in Swampy or an escort to help you, but they said I have to request it at check-in, they're not able to book it in advance. Ditto the golf buggy in Heathrow. 

[KWA]

19 hours ago, Toy Boy said:

Yes, you can get a wheelchair in Swampy or an escort to help you, but they said I have to request it at check-in, they're not able to book it in advance.

Which contradicts their website and everything I've ever heard about requesting assistance which is always to book it in advance.

 

https://www.evaair.com/en-global/fly-prepare/special-assistance-and-inquiry/disability-assistance/disability-assistance/

 

[fatbhoytim]

Have booked assistance with Qatar airways for a friend multiple times. When booking request special assistance and when you check in they will call the operators and they will take you through security/passport control then either to gate or lounge, where they will come back and get you to the aircraft door. Works the same at Doha and Heathrow. No charge. I have found them to be very efficient. I assume other airlines do the same ?

[Toy Boy]

I'm back in Blighty now and here's what happened. The EVA office in Bangkok had flagged a request for assistance against my booking but the details were left to the people on the ground at check-in. I told the guy there that I could take my time and get to the lounge but I wasn't so confident of getting to the gate as I'd seen a flight departing from E10 a few days earlier, the very far end of the E-concourse. He said the flight was departing today from gate F6, which is quite close to the lounge, so I cancelled the assistance in Swampy but said I'd still like it in Heathrow.

No problem, but he can only book you a wheelchair, sorting out the electric buggy is up to the wheelchair people in London. That worked fine, anyway, a flight attendant showed me to the wheelchair which was waiting, even though the flight arrived about 30 minutes early. The wheelchair lady just pushed me about 100 yards around the corner and then sat down to wait for the buggy, which took ages to arrive. Once aboard, though, it was amazing how quickly it got us back to Passport Control in the main terminal. The trek on foot seems to last forever, but on wheels it was over in no time at all.

I'd assumed as I was flying in BC that I'd be able to use the FastTrack passport control and be able to avoid the long and winding queues at Heathrow, but this next bit really surprised and disappointed me. One of the hostesses had come around towards the end of the flight with the FastTrack passes, but she'd ignored me. I asked her if I could have one and she asked me what passport I had. I replied British and she shook her head and sadly said that no, British passengers aren't allowed to use the FastTrack facility.  What??? She let me have a look at one of the passes and I've attached a photo of it:

When did this happen, one of the perks we pay for in BC is being denied to us, shouldn't we be able to claim compensation? And not just for Brits, but certain Europeans, Aussies and Americans, too. I can't imagine that's going to endear the UK as a destination to many Americans, Kiwis or Australians flying long-haul in BC. I mean, members of the IRG from Tehran or the Taliban from Kabul can apparently use FastTrack, but not law-abiding, tax-paying British citizens or their cousins from overseas. If the facial recognition e-gates were 100% reliable then it might be less of an issue, but my own experience with them since Covid finished is that they never work with either of the passports I've had in that period.

I was fuming, anyway, and as I got nearer the e-gate I could finally see what was going on as it was very busy.

One young guy tried his passport several times and ended up with the message 'seek assistance', which I know from past experience means join the even longer queue to see the one actual human being working in Passport Control. Then the guy in front of me must have been an expert, or else just very lucky, as he got the green light on the first attempt. My turn and I stuck my passport on the scanner, but Computer Says No, I got a red light. So I turned it around and tried again, certain that I'd soon be joining the young guy in the long queue to see someone extant. Much to my surprise, though I was given a green light and, gammy foot or not, I was off like a greyhound out of the traps before the gate could change its mind.