Checklist for EU accessibility rules – ACI EUROPE prepares airports for compliance
Airport operators across the European Union need to prepare for a new wave of regulatory obligations under Directive (EU) 2019/882, better known as the European Accessibility Act (EAA). Aimed at harmonising accessibility standards across Member States, the Directive is a cornerstone of the EU’s ambition to remove barriers for persons with disabilities and ensure consistent access to essential products and services, not limited to air travel.
The EAA applies to a wide range of services and devices – from banking and e-commerce to digital media and public transport. For the aviation sector, the Directive targets explicitly digital transport services, requiring all passenger transport providers to ensure the accessibility of their websites, mobile applications, ticketing platforms, real-time travel information, and self-service terminals by 28 June 2025.
A countdown to compliance
While Member States were required to transpose the Directive into national law by June 2022, the actual application of the rules is scheduled to begin in June 2025. From that point forward, any new products and services placed on the market must comply with the EAA’s accessibility requirements. Products already in circulation will benefit from a transitional period until June 2030, and self-service terminals may remain operational until the end of their economically useful life, capped at 20 years, under specific conditions.
Airport operators must be particularly attentive to how self-service systems, online check-in, digital flight information, and interactive kiosks comply with the directive, not just in terms of interface design but also how content is delivered across sensory channels, ensuring that visual, auditory, and textual information is accessible and usable by all.
Digital and service obligations: What airports must deliver
Although the Directive does not cover the physical accessibility of transport vehicles (still governed by Regulation (EU) 1300/2014), it imposes clear obligations for digital service accessibility. These include:
- Making websites and mobile apps perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust (aligned with WCAG 2.1 standards);
- Ensuring electronic ticketing, wayfinding apps, and real-time updates (such as delays or gate changes) are delivered through accessible formats;
- Guaranteeing that support services and customer information are usable by people with disabilities, including compatibility with assistive technologies.
In addition, the Directive encourages – though does not mandate – Member States to extend requirements to the built environment, such as entrances, circulation paths, restrooms, and emergency exits, wherever these relate to service delivery.
A checklist for airport managing bodies
ACI EUROPE has compiled a compliance checklist to support its members through this transition. Download it here.
