Ahead of World Autism Awareness Day, Hermes Airports is organising a series of actions with a view to make individuals with autism more familiar with air travel procedures and at the same time, raise public awareness for autism.
From March 29 – April 5, the main roundabout of Larnaca Airport and the entrances of Larnaca and Paphos airports will be illuminated with blue light, which is the colour of autism, in the framework of the global campaign “Light it up blue”, with the aim of raising awareness about autism among passengers and airport visitors.
Moreover, Hermes supported the initiative of the Flight Safety Foundation-Mediterranean for yet another year, with the “Flying with Autism”, during which 60 children with autism and their escorts, went through all the regular airport boarding procedures and boarded a plane, which taxied in the runway and returned to its parking position. This initiative aimed to help people with autism get acquainted with flying.
Apart from the events on the occasion of World Autism Awareness Day, Hermes Airports has always supported the children and families with autism, having established, among other, the “I Can Fly” programme.
Through the programme, Larnaca and Paphos airports offer people with autism and their families, easy, fast, smooth and stress-free transfer through the required checks and procedures. Within the framework of the programme, people with autism and their escorts are given an illustrated flyer with useful travel tips, a checklist and an illustrated story of the route they will follow at the airport, step-by-step (the material is available at the website of Hermes Airports).
In a statement, Hermes Airports’ Chief Executive Officer, Eleni Kaloyirou, said the company’s initiatives aim to both raise awareness and help people get acquainted with air travel. “Hermes places high priority on providing high-quality services to all of our passengers, without discrimination. We are optimistic that with our programme “I Can Fly”, we can make travelling easier for people with autism,” she added.
