A Greek Australian woman says she was forced to carry her disabled sister off a Jetstar flight after the airline failed to produce her sister’s wheelchair upon arrival at Perth airport.

Danae Florias, 24, dragged her 26-year-old sister Marissa, who has cerebral palsy and requires her specially designed chair in order to sit up safely, after Jetstar flight attendants could only offer the airline’s generic wheelchair.

“Your wheelchair is no good to me, my sister can’t hold her body up, and needs her wheelchair designed for her specifically,” Ms Florias told the staff member.

“She just looked at me with a blank look, I just got no response whatsoever. By that time my sister was hysterical because she gets very anxious so easily and was like ‘oh my God they’ve lost my wheelchair’.”

Ms Florinas said she was left with no alternative than to carry her sister off the plane and through the arrivals hall where their mother was waiting for them.

“The look on my mum’s face was just like, absolutely shocked, because she couldn’t believe I had to drag my sister all the way inside. Then I had to dump my sister on my mum so I could go and find our suitcase and find the wheelchair,” she told Fairfax Media.

Ms Florinas says her sister has been scared to use any other mode of transport other than her wheelchair because she has had a fall before.

Ironically, Ms Florinas and her sister were sitting behind Jetstar CEO David Hall and even chatted to him, praising the airline for their helpful assistants in previous flights.

Mr Hall was not there to witness the ordeal, as the plane had emptied as the sisters were left waiting for their specific wheelchair to arrive.

Jetstar says they’ve been in contact with the family. In a written statement the company said: “We apologise to the family for the distress involved and we’re investigating how this occurred. Every year Jetstar carries 60,000 passengers with specific needs. These reports are concerning and do not reflect the normal flight experience of our disabled passengers.”

Source: Fairfax Media