Newquay airport rated ‘Very Good’ as assistance demand hits a record

If you have ever asked for a wheelchair at the gate, a hand through security, or someone to walk you from the car park to check-in, you are part of a group that is growing faster than almost anyone flying. And in Cornwall, the airport most likely to be helping you has just moved up a grade.

Cornwall Newquay has been rated ‘Very Good’ in the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s annual Airport Accessibility Report for 2025/26, up from ‘Good’ the year before. It is not alone in the South West. Exeter held onto the ‘Very Good’ rating it earned last year, and Bristol climbed from ‘Good’ to ‘Very Good’ too, meaning all three of the region’s main airports now sit in the top tier.

What the report measures

The report grades how well the UK’s busiest airports look after disabled passengers and passengers with reduced mobility. It covers the 28 airports that handled more than 150,000 passengers during the 2025 calendar year, and it looks at performance between April 2025 and March 2026.

Airports are judged in three areas: how quickly assistance reaches passengers who are arriving and departing, how satisfied the people using the service say they are, and how well the airport works with disabled people and disability organisations through what the regulator calls Accessibility Forums.

To reach ‘Very Good’, an airport has to hit tougher targets than for ‘Good’. That includes getting assistance to at least 98 percent of pre-notified arriving passengers within 20 minutes of the plane coming to a stop, and scoring 4 or better out of 5 in the survey of people who used the service.

Record numbers asking for help

A record 5.9 million passengers used assistance services at UK airports in 2025, and demand keeps climbing faster than passenger numbers overall. Since 2015, requests for assistance have risen by 115.8 percent. Over the same period, total passenger numbers grew by 23.9 percent.

Across the 28 airports assessed, 19 were rated ‘Very Good’ and 9 were rated ‘Good’. None was rated ‘Needs Improvement’ or ‘Poor’. That is a marked change from 2014, when the regulator’s Airport Accessibility Performance Framework was introduced and 13 airports fell into those bottom two bands. In the decade since, airports have put millions of pounds into staff training, facilities and the services themselves.

Where passengers still hit problems

The picture is not entirely rosy. The Civil Aviation Authority’s latest Aviation Consumer Survey found overall satisfaction with air travel reached 88 percent, the highest since the survey began in 2016. But among passengers with accessibility or disability needs, satisfaction sat lower, at 82 percent.

The same survey found that 58 percent of disabled consumers reported difficulties getting through airports and flying, with the most common needs relating to walking, standing or carrying luggage.

Anna Bowles, Head of Consumer Protection at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said the progress over the last decade is encouraging but no reason to ease off.

“The fact that no airport was rated ‘Needs Improvement’ or ‘Poor’ this year is welcome, but we cannot be complacent,” Anna said. “Some disabled passengers still face difficulties when travelling, and with demand for assistance services continuing to rise, airports must continue to invest in assistance services. We will consult on a revised version of the Framework later this year as we continue to challenge airports to improve further.”

Anna also pointed to the Civil Aviation Bill now going through Parliament, which she said would, if approved, give the regulator extra powers to hold airports to account over passengers’ legal rights, including on accessibility.

What assistance actually covers

If you or someone you travel with might need help, the service is there for elderly travellers, disabled passengers, people with reduced mobility, families with young children and anyone needing extra support. It is free, and you request it through your airline or travel agent, usually at least 48 hours before you fly.

What it can include is broad. There is mobility support to and from car parks and train stations, help with check-in, security and passport control, and someone to get you through the terminal. Staff help with boarding and getting off the aircraft, and with collecting baggage or moving between connecting flights.

Over the reporting year, the Civil Aviation Authority checked the service in person, observing how around 1,400 flights were handled across 16 of the largest UK airports and running deeper assessments at five of them. The revised Framework it plans to consult on later this year is the next step in a decade of pushing the standard up.