HeathrowSpecial Assistance

Heathrow is a vast airport, and moving through it can feel daunting if you, or someone you’re travelling with, has a disability, reduced mobility, or a non-visible condition. The reassuring news: in the UK, special assistance is free, it’s a legal right, and you don’t have to prove anything to use it. Arranged in advance, support is ready from the moment you arrive. This guide explains how to set it up, what help is available, and the lanyards, sensory packs and facilities that make the journey calmer.

Two things to look for at Heathrow:

• Assistance areas — staffed host areas in departures (both before and after security) and in the arrivals hall, in every terminal. This is where you collect lanyards and sensory packs and where the team coordinates your support.
• Help points — located in all official car parks, designated drop-off points, terminal forecourts, and the bus, train and Underground stations. Press the button or use the phone to speak to the assistance team, tell them where you are and what you need, and they’ll come to you. There are also help points inside the terminals and at baggage reclaim.

If you can’t find a help point, Heathrow lists direct phone numbers for the assistance team on its official accessibility pages — worth saving before you travel. Exact assistance-area locations vary by terminal and level, so check the current details on Heathrow’s site.

Plenty of conditions — autism, ADHD, dementia, anxiety, learning disabilities, chronic illness and more — aren’t obvious to others but can make a busy airport overwhelming. Heathrow has dedicated support:

• Convo (BSL interpreting) — a free service for deaf passengers. Scan the QR code on a Convo poster in any Assistance host area and you’re instantly connected to a live British Sign Language interpreter who helps you communicate with Heathrow staff, wherever you are. No app, no booking.
• Aira — a free on-demand app for blind and low-vision passengers, connecting you to a trained agent for guided navigation (note: phones can’t be used through security and immigration, where an agent escorts you instead).
• The Heathrow app — works with screen readers such as VoiceOver and TalkBack, with real-time flight info and interactive maps.

• Accessible toilets throughout the airport, including unisex wheelchair-accessible facilities.
• Changing Places for departing passengers — extra space and equipment including a height-adjustable adult changing bench, a hoist and showers. You’ll need a RADAR key, which you can borrow from an assistance area if you don’t have one. (The Lichfield Suite offers additional facilities for travellers with more severe physical or learning disabilities.)
• Blue Badge parking in the short-stay/Terminal Parking car parks, close to terminal access routes — see our Heathrow parking guide for the full parking picture.
• Help points and reserved seating with induction loops marked by the ‘sympathetic ear’ symbol.

You’re always welcome to use your own wheelchair or mobility aid through the airport. Whether it can travel in the cabin or must go in the hold depends on the aircraft, so your airline will need to know the device’s make and model, dimensions and weight, and the battery type (dry or wet cell). They’ll also advise how to prepare it for loading. Walking sticks are screened at security, and if you rely on one for support, staff can provide an alternative while yours is checked. Let a security manager know about any medical device — a pacemaker, stoma bag or insulin pump — when you arrive.

Heathrow’s free assistance takes over once you reach the terminal — but the journey to and from the airport matters just as much. RushXO can arrange step-free and wheelchair-accessible vehicles in advance (subject to availability), with a driver who helps at both ends, on a fixed fare with no surge.

• Door-to-door — collected from your home and delivered to the terminal entrance, where you can head straight to an Assistance area or help point.
• Met on arrival — once you’ve been assisted through arrivals, your driver is waiting with a name board, ready to help with luggage.
• The right vehicle — tell us your requirements (wheelchair access, step-free, extra space, a folding chair, a companion or assistance dog) when you book, and we’ll send a suitable vehicle and an understanding driver.

It’s the same calm, fixed-fare service as our main Heathrow transfers — just arranged around your access needs. Travelling with an assistance dog? See our pet & assistance-dog guide for the airport process.