Turkish Airlines has this month announced it will be partnering with the Sunflower Lanyard service in order to help improve the travel experience of passengers with disabilities or limited mobility while in the sky.
The Differences Add Value program was designed to ensure both ground service personnel and cabin crew are aware of and can best serve passengers with invisible disabilities such as autism, dementia, anxiety disorders, and vision- or hearing disorders.
Turkish Airlines Sunflower Lanyard programme
“While we are enhancing the privileged travel experience we offer as Turkish Airlines, we focus on the expectations and needs of our passengers and develop projects accordingly. Therefore, we are able to host hundreds of thousands of guests from different cultures and regions with a high satisfaction ratio above the clouds,” Turkish Airlines CEO Bilal Ekşi explained in a press release.
“As the airline that flies to more countries than any other and believes every destination in its network has its gems waiting to be discovered, we will continue to develop services that will remove the barriers before the clouds.”
The program is designed to be subtle with sunflower lanyards—which symbolize hidden disabilities—to be given to passengers who may require additional support from the airline staff while preparing for their travels without the need to draw attention or cause anxiety when bringing up a hidden disability.
In short, the project is designed to help travelers with hidden disabilities stress less during the travel experience without sacrificing additional resources that might be required to make the experience more comfortable.
“We are delighted that Turkish Airlines have joined the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower global network. Delivering our training to 17,000 staff is an incredible achievement that shows the airline’s commitment to making aviation accessible,” added Hidden Disabilities CEO Paul White.
“Passengers with non-visible disabilities can travel to 129 countries with Turkish Airlines, secure in the knowledge that the airline staff will greet them with kindness, patience and understanding.”