Your journey · People of Determination
Travelling as a Person of Determination
Tell us you are coming and we will meet you. This page sets out what is available at Ras Al Khaimah International Airport today, how to arrange it, and — just as usefully — what we do not yet provide, so that you can plan around it rather than discover it at the door.
Arranging help
How to request assistance
Assistance is requested through the airline you booked with, because the request has to reach both the airline and the airport. The earlier it is made, the more of it can be arranged.
- 01
Tell your airline when you book
Say what you need in practical terms: help to the aircraft, help with steps, a wheelchair for the distance only, assistance with communication, an escort through immigration. The airline records it against your booking and passes it to the airport.
- 02
If you have already booked, call the airline back
A request added later is still worth making. If your flight is within a day or two and you want to be certain the airport itself knows, call the Duty Officer as well.
- 03
On the day, allow extra time and say you are here
Come to the check-in desk and identify yourself. Assistance starts from the desk. If you are being dropped off, do that at the Departure Terminal entrance — the doors are automatic and the entrance is level.
- Duty Officer
- +971 50 487 2704
- info@rakairport.com
On the field
What is available today
All of the following are in place now, in both terminal buildings unless stated.
- Wheelchairs
- Available at the terminal for passengers who need them.
- Ambu-lift
- A lift vehicle for boarding and disembarking passengers who cannot use aircraft steps. Arranged through your airline.
- Accessible toilets
- In both the Departure and Arrival terminals.
- Nurse on duty
- Medical cover on the field, with ambulances available.
- Airport police
- On duty 24 hours if you need help or feel unsafe.
- Level entrances
- Automatic sliding doors at both terminal entrances, at ground level.
- Prayer rooms
- In both terminals, and a mosque near the Departure car park.
- Free Wi-Fi
- Across both terminals, useful if you rely on a device to communicate.
Your own equipment
Equipment, medicines and oxygen
Carriage of your own equipment is decided by your airline under the dangerous goods rules, so the conversation to have is with them, early.
Wheelchairs, mobility aids and batteries
- Tell your airline what you are bringing and how it is powered. Dry cell, gel, wet cell and lithium batteries are each treated differently, and lithium-powered chairs usually need advance approval.
- Ask whether your chair can be used to the aircraft door and returned to you at the door on arrival, or whether it will be checked at the desk. Both are common; only your airline can say which applies.
- Label the equipment with your name and contact details, and photograph it before you hand it over.
- Bring any tools, keys or instructions needed to disassemble and reassemble it, and be able to explain the process.
Medical equipment, medicines and oxygen
- In-flight oxygen and the use of medical devices on board are arranged with your airline in advance. The airport does not supply them.
- Carry medicines in your hand luggage, in their original packaging, with the prescription or a doctor's letter.
- Medicines are exempt from the one-litre liquids bag and may be carried in addition, but you may be asked to prove what they are.
- Medication is a restricted category at UAE customs. Some medicines require prior approval before they enter the country — check before you travel, not on arrival.
Hearing, vision and hidden disabilities
Where we are honest about the gaps
Flight information is displayed on screens and announced in the terminal, and staff will read information out, guide you, and stay with you through immigration and security if you ask. What we cannot yet tell you is whether an induction loop covers a given desk, and the airport does not currently operate a quiet or sensory room, a recognised hidden-disability lanyard scheme, or a published autism-friendly route.
If any of those matter to your journey, tell your airline and call the Duty Officer before your travel date. Staff will meet you and stay with you. We would rather arrange a person than promise a facility that is not there yet.
Assistance and service animals
Two separate approvals are needed and neither is quick. Your airline decides whether the animal may travel in the cabin on that flight, and entry of any animal into the UAE requires permits from the federal authorities. Start both well before you book, and carry the documentation with you.
Being straight with you
What we have not published yet
These are being confirmed with the airport's operations team and will be added to this page as they are. We would rather list them than let you assume.
- The location and number of accessible parking bays, and whether a concession applies
- Step-free route maps for both terminals, which will come with the terminal maps
- How much notice an assistance request needs in order to be guaranteed
- Whether a quiet or sensory room will be provided
- Induction loop coverage at check-in, immigration and gate positions
Tell us when it does not work
If assistance you arranged did not arrive, or something on this page turned out to be wrong, write to us. Specific accounts of what went wrong on a particular day are what actually changes how the airport runs.
info@rakairport.comTalk to someone
If something is not covered here
The Duty Officer is on the field around the clock and is the right first call on the day of travel. Anything about your ticket, your allowance or your seat belongs with your airline.
Ask your airline first
Fares, allowances, seat selection, name changes, delays, cancellations, missing bags and special assistance requests are all handled by the airline that issued your ticket. The airport cannot change them.
Times and allowances on this page are published for planning. Rules set by airlines, UAE Customs and the immigration authorities change without notice — confirm the detail that matters to your trip before you travel.