Ex-Coronation Street star Melissa Johns has slammed Ryanair after claiming staff acted with ‘disgust’ upon being asked to assist with her disability.
The 27-year-old actress and model took to Twitter on Thursday to criticise the Irish airline, claiming she was told to receive extra help she needed to have paid for priority boarding.
Melissa – who was born with only half of her right arm – added that Ryanair should do more to train their staff to better equip them for dealing with disabled passengers, telling The Sun other airlines also need to follow suit.
Furious: Ex-Coronation Street actress Melissa Johns, 29, has slammed Ryanair for allegedly treating her with ‘disgust’ after she asked for help with her disability
Melissa – who played Imogen Pascoe on Corrie for a short stint last year – first tweeted: ‘Actual words from @Ryanair flight attendant when explaining being disabled and requiring some help – ”Well sorry but if you have a disability, you have to pay for priority.”
In a second tweet the star continued: ‘Oh… And then there’s the look of disgust on said flight attendants face. Maybe some disability awareness and attitude training is required @Ryanair @RyanairFlights.’
Ryanair Priority Boarding costs an extra £5 or £6 per flight, and Melissa also told The Sun she believes airlines should do more to train staff on dealing with customers with an array of disabilities.
Angry: Melissa took to Twitter on Thursday to furiously attack the Irish airline, where she claimed she was told she needed to have booked priority boarding to receive help with her disability
Soap star: The blonde beauty, who was born with only half of her right arm, played Imogen Pascoe on Corrie for a short stint last year
She said: ‘This incident with Ryanair is completely reflective of a wider issue that runs throughout corporate culture today.
‘Clearly many companies like Ryanair are more worried about their finances than they are about providing the correct level of disability access and the right amount of disability awareness training for their staff.
‘As a society we need to have a good long think about how we dealing with the comfort of people with disabilities in pragmatic terms to make incidents like this a thing of the past.’
MailOnline has contacted a representative for Melissa Johns for further comment.
Passionate: Melissa also told The Sun she thinks airlines need to do more when training their staff to deal with disabled passengers
Ryanair have since denied Melissa’s claims, and a spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘Thousands of customers of reduced mobility travel with Ryanair on a daily basis without issue and customers who require further assistance are asked to contact our dedicated special assistance team when booking their flights.
‘Our records show that this customer contacted our customer service team on 3 April last and requested to be seated next to her travelling companion, which was organised for her on both flights.
‘This customer did not request any other special assistance and we have contacted her to request further details of her complaint.’
Advocate: She said: ‘This incident with Ryanair is completely reflective of a wider issue that runs throughout corporate culture today’