Accessibility and mobility

Getting from, and back to, the plane at Luxor

From the plane

At Luxor a dedicated wheelchair vehicle is attached to the front door of the plane. If you have asked for extra assistance, you will be directed to this door. Once inside the vehicle, you are given one of the airport's wheelchairs to sit in. The vehicle is then driven to the Arrivals Hall. The wheelchairs are lowered, individually, on a motorised platform at the rear of the vehicle. An airport porter then pushes each wheelchaired passenger into the Arrivals Hall and to the visa counters. The porters will normally ignore any queues.

Once you have your visa, the porter will again ignore queues to take you quickly through passport control and to baggage reclaim. The porter, with the airport wheelchair, will not go further than baggage reclaim, but you will be able to collect your own wheelchair, or other mobility aid, with the rest of your luggage. The wheelchair porter will expect, and probably deserve, a tip for his efforts. LE20 - LE30 would be fair.

There is no 'official' help with wheelchairs or other personal mobility assistance once you have left baggage reclaim. Nevertheless, other porters may be keen to assist with your bags. This may be welcome if you are on your own, but if you are travelling with a companion who is able to carry the luggage, and do not want additional help from porters, you will need to make this clear to would-be assistants. Frequently.

Returning through the airport to the plane

Coming back, there is a security point just inside the airport terminal. Wait at this point for the airport porter who will arrive with a wheelchair. The porter will take you to the check-in desk, probably ignoring any queues. He will stay with you as you complete the departure card and go through passport control, as far as the duty free shopping area. There is more general information about the departure procedure here.

After this point, you can still make use of the wheelchair but the porter will not (understandably) wait with you. The duty free area and departure lounge are all on one level are quite chair-friendly until you go through the departure gate.

When the flight is called, most airlines allow people needing assistance to board first. There is a lift from the departure gate to ground level. At ground level you will be directed to the dedicated mobility bus, which will take you back to the aircraft. You will be raised on the vehicle's platform to the front door of the plane. Leave the wheelchair in the mobility vehicle.

Getting around Luxor

If you have mobility problems, or if you have children in a pushchair, getting around Luxor is possible, but difficult.

The main problems are:

• the condition of many of the footpaths.

• the curbs (between the road and the footpath), which are ridiculously high.

• unnecessary obstacles.

Condition of the pavements

Most of the footpaths are surfaced with paviors (bricks) or slabs. When they are first laid they are usually fine, but they are not laid to last. Ground movement soon makes them uneven. If there is work to the footpath and the slabs have to be taken up, they are relaid, but not immediately, and not very well.

Older footpaths may be larger slabs or concrete but when these are broken they can remain unrepaired for a very long time indeed. Some of the footpaths even have large holes which are not even marked. It is necessary to be very careful indeed when walking along the footpaths.

Curbs

The footpaths cross plenty of roads. On most journeys by footpath it is necessary to climb many curbs, and climb is not always an exaggeration. They are very high indeed. Unfortunately, there are few dropped curbs, so the footpaths are especially inaccessible to pushchairs and to people with walking or wheeled mobility aids.

Obstacles

Occasionally there is a reasonable run of fairly safe footpath. There seems to be a recent trend to plant bushes in the middle of any such path, making it impassible to wheelchairs, pushchairs or any but the slimmest of pedestrians. To make it even worse, some of the bushes have thorns which easily catch the clothing or skin of all passers-by.

The solution

The ideal solution would be for the Supreme Council to reverse some of the bush-planting and to spend some of the millions currently being invested in Luxor on making getting around, on foot or in a chair, less hazardous. In the meantime, most people who use wheelchairs or pushchairs, or who become exhausted from climbing high curbs, walk along the edge of the road. This might give rise to horn-sounding, but it is sometimes the only option if you do not wish to take a taxi.

Tours and hotels

We plan to include information here about the mobility-friendliness of hotels and how people with mobility problems manage on tours and visiting the sites. If you are able to help with first-hand information, please contact us. Thank you.