The aviation regulator’s Airport Accessibility Report, which assesses 26 of the largest UK airports, details airports’ efforts in providing passengers who require support the standard of service to which they are entitled.

In the year covered by the report, April 2022 to March 2023, 18 airports consistently achieved a good or very good rating, with seven airports improving from a poor rating to a good or very good rating.

Among those is Manchester Airport, which has invested heavily in recruitment and equipment and subsequently delivered significant improvements in the quality of the assistance service at the airport.

Luton, which was previously highlighted as a lower performing airport in an interim report published in December, has also made significant improvements, scoring very good in the last quarter.

However, Heathrow continues to be rated as "needs improvement" in the report, despite the airport demonstrating improvements in the service provided to passengers across all four quarters.

This was against a backdrop of a 50% increase in the proportion of passengers using the assistance service

since 2019, alongside being the airport with the highest total demand for assistance services in the UK airports.

TTG’s Big Question feature continued this month with a frank assessment of the industry’s progress on accessibility in aviation, and comes after the second edition of TTG Fairer Travel Week (3-7 July) where the topic was also raised.

Paul Smith, joint-interim chief executive at the CAA, said: "Today’s report shows the dedicated efforts of airports across the UK to ensure that all passengers receive the standard of service they deserve.

"With 18 airports consistently achieving good or very good ratings, and others demonstrating significant improvements, the industry is making strides in returning accessibility levels to those seen before the Covid-19 pandemic."