Teenager drags Malawian Airlines to court

A 13-year-old girl with a disability has sued Malawian Airlines Limited for cancelling a flight booking to South Africa where she wanted to go for medical attention.

Court documents filed at the High Court Lilongwe Registry show that the child’s father, George Matipwiri, booked the flight for four family members on November 21 2021 to travel for specialised medical attention on December 1 2021 at Shonaquip Clinic.

The family was booked to fly on November 30 and to return on December 3 2021.

When booking the flight the father disclosed that his daughter has a disability, but she would be able to sit on her own and might need support from her parents during take-off and landing.

The company, on November 22, provided Matipwiri with a medical information sheet to be filled by the child’s doctor on how best the company can make the trip comfortable for her.

On November 23, the booking was confirmed and the father was provided with an itinerary and a flight charges quotation.

But to the family’s surprise, on November 25 they received communication that their booking was rejected on the premise that the child needed a stretcher which the company did not have as an onboard facility.

Reads the court document in part: “The claimant’s family was hence compelled to find other means of travel to South Africa and they travelled by road for 90 hours yet had they flown, the trip was going to take less than three hours”.

In the summons, the claimant is through lawyer Francis Kaduya, claiming breach of right to human dignity, breach of right to equality, breach of right to health and development and breach of right of universal design principle.

The claimant is also claiming costs for accommodation and food on the way to and from South Africa, border payments in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa and associated harsh circumstances faced on the road trip to South Africa.

In an interview, Kaduya alleged that the claimant was unfairly treated by the company because the doctor assessed and certified her as fit to travel and she was in no way going to inconvenience fellow passengers and she had her father, mum and an elder sister to support her in any way.

He said the company, alternatively, would have made arrangements with its partner Ethiopian Airlines’ big flights which have disability-friendly facilities and fly through Ethiopia to Johannesburg.

“The whole rejection had put the claimant’s right to timely access to health jeopardised. This was a clear breach of the right to health and development of the child given her condition,” Kaduya said.

In an interview, Malawian Airlines customer care and commercial administration manager Charles Ng’ambi while acknowledging receipt of the court documents refused to comment, saying the issue was in court and he could not give further details.

Malawi Human Rights Commission director of disability and elderly Wycliffe Masoo said they are aware of the issue because Matipwiri reported it to them and he has the institution’s blessings to seek remedy through the court.

“Before it even went to court, we were made aware, we have been pushing to get responses from Malawian Airlines about this issue but until now, they are not saying anything.

“You can clearly see the violation of human rights where a customer was clear enough to declare the condition of the child and it was backed by professional medical report warranting the travel”.

He said they will take deliberate effort to engage with the Malawian Airlines to ensure they are aware of all forms of human rights aspects.