Cebu Airport sets higher standards for passengers with hearing loss
- Written by Roberto Castiglioni
Second busiest in the Philippines, Mactan-Cebu International Airport recently raised the bar on airport accessibility making air travel easier for people with hearing loss.
Hearing loss affects over five percent of the world’s population; however, the air travel industry is still struggling to provide easy access to deaf people.
Airports, in particular, can be very challenging for people with hearing loss. For example, last minute gate change announcements may easily make a deaf person miss a flight.
For the second time this year, Mactan-Cebu International Airport partnered with the Deaf Association of Lapu-Lapu City along with the Lapu-Lapu City Federation of People with Disabilities to run a workshop to help staff best meet the needs of passengers with hearing loss.
Twenty-five airlines check-in staff, ground handlers, airport officers, customer service reps, and security personnel attended the workshop.
The training sessions focused on increasing awareness and promote sensitivity towards the needs of passengers with disabilities and
taught attendees basic sign language and other useful means of communication.
“I am delighted to again be a part of the workshop because it has greatly improved the relationship between airport staff and the deaf and hard of hearing individuals. After the first workshop in March, we have noted an improvement on how our airport staffs communicate with deaf people,” DALLC president Christopher Kit Amomonpon said.
“The training seeks to improve the customer service capabilities of airport front line staffs towards the deaf and hard of hearing passengers including passengers with physical disabilities,” Cebu airport Head of Corporate Affairs Estee Plunket said.
Cebu airport plans to run Deaf Culture Sensitivity Training to airport staff and stakeholders every three months.
