Why all airports should have an Eagle 2 lifter

The thought of travelling conjures many emotions; you’d usually associate it with happiness and excitement, however, when you’re disabled or a person with reduced mobility (PRM), those feelings can quickly turn to apprehension and nerves. One of the biggest worries is how to get from your wheelchair and into your airplane seat in a dignified and comfortable way, as sometimes it doesn’t go too smoothly…

That’s where the Eagle 2 Lifter comes in; this handy piece of kit, designed by Australian manufacturer Haycomp, allows dignified transition from wheelchair to seat, ensuring a more pleasant experience for the PRM.  It works by placing the passenger in a comfortable sling attached to a portable frame, allowing 2 airline staff safely move the frame to, and safely place the passenger in, their seat. Take a look at it in action in their demo video:

Does my airport have an Eagle 2 Lifter?

Great question! Thanks to Tony Clough, carer and volunteer Changing Places campaigner, we have found that not a lot of UK airports actually have an Eagle 2 Lifter, which is a terrible shame.

‘Changing Places and Eagle Lifters go hand in hand in my opinion at airports. If you need hoisting facilities for your basic human needs then an Eagle lifter will certainly give you a much more dignified way of getting into your seat rather than being ‘man-handled’. I’ve seen this happen to my adult sister over the last 20+ years which is very degrading. These aren’t a gimmick or a nice toy to play with. Airports should offer BOTH to PRMs.’
–Tony Clough

So far just 10 of the UK’s airports have one available to use. Our table below highlights in which UK airports you can find an Eagle 2 Lifter:

Which UK airports have Eagle 2 Lifters?

How do I book an Eagle 2 Lifter?

Using the contact details above, each of the airports ask you to provide the following information:

• Name and contact details of passenger requiring use
• Date of travel and flight details
• Passenger’s height and approximate weight
• Whether you’ll be using your own sling or not
• Whether you have used the service before.

What’s it like to use an Eagle 2 lifter?

We took to good old Twitter to see what UK travellers had to say about the Eagle 2 lifters, or the lack of them!

Accessibility in airports

This is an important subject, one that we feel very strongly about here at Airport Parking Shop. Encouragingly, more UK airports have Changing Places facilities than they do Eagle 2 Lifters, so perhaps this will spark an upwards trend of more Eagle 2s being available across the country; we can only hope!

Have you ever used an Eagle 2 Lifter as a PRM? Perhaps you’re cabin crew who has had experience transporting passengers in one of the lifts? We’d be keen to hear your thoughts on the availability and usefulness of them and how other airports can follow the example of Heathrow, Gatwick, Newcastle and so on.