- A passenger said he was left at the airport after he told flight attendants on a Qatar Airways flight he'd need assistance to the bathroom.
- He was charged a $400 'no show' fee despite boarding the flight and being escorted off the plane, according to reports.
An Australian wheelchair-user is accusing Qatar Airways of leaving him stranded at Melbourne Airport on Monday due to his disability.
Craig Nolan, 43, told The Guardian he was traveling home to Finland when his trip to Doha via Qatar Airways was cut short after he told flight attendants he'd need assistance to the bathroom.
Nolan's friend, Bridget Mullahy, called out the airline in a thread on Twitter detailing Nolan's experience, writing the incident was "not acceptable treatment of someone in a wheelchair with a disability."
—Bridget Mullahy (@Bridget_Mullahy) December 6, 2022
Nolan, a former travel agent, experienced a "typical plane journey" at first, as he was transferred from his wheelchair into an aisle chair onboard the airplane, Mullahy wrote.
According to Mullahy, the situation changed when Nolan informed a flight attendant that he'd need to be pushed to the bathroom and back to his seat since he was traveling alone.
Nolan, who uses a wheelchair due to his spina bifida, informed the airline he'd be traveling alone when he checked in for the flight, Mullahy wrote, but said this was the reason he was escorted off the flight.
He was eventually taken to customer service where he was charged a $400 "no show" fee despite being seated on the flight, Mullahy wrote. Nolan has reportedly traveled to over 30 countries and often uses an aisle chair on his journeys.
Nolan told The Guardian the incident was a misunderstanding, and he believes he was removed because the crew assumed he'd need their help throughout the entirety of the 14-hour flight, which was not the case.
"Had they listened they would have realized I only needed help to be pushed from my chair to the toilet, which is part of their job description. I wasn't asking for help in the plane or in the bathroom," Nolan told The Guardian.
Mullahy's thread garnered hundreds of shares and likes from users offering support to Nolan. In one tweet, she thanked Melbourne Airport for offering Nolan a hotel stay while he tried to get back to Finland.
According to The Guardian, Nolan has attempted to get a refund for his plane ticket and was told the $400 no show fee would be deducted from his refund.
As of Wednesday at midnight ET, Nolan was still stuck in Melbourne. Qatar Airways didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.