Buying low-cost plane tickets is something many of us take for granted.

For one 21-year-old Teddington resident though his attempts to take advantage of cut price air fares is not so easy.

Alex Taylor, of Park Road, was told by multiple airlines his wheelchair user status meant he would need to pay for an additional full price ticket for someone to accompany him on outward and return flights for his proposed New Year’s trip to Germany.

According to airline operators, wheelchair users must have a companion fly with them for health and safety reasons and no companion ticket concessions are available.

Mr Taylor argued the requirement to buy an additional full price companion ticket put the cost of his trip, and many other wheelchair users’ trips, out of reach.

He said: “I started looking into flights [with Lutfhansa] and then I heard about how I had to pay extra so after that I had to put it my plans on hold and then I thought I’d call other airlines.

“I have contacted other airlines and they follow the same procedure.

“In my opinion this approach is completely discriminatory - especially given that the cost would be even higher during peak season.”

The university graduate, who has cerebral palsy and has used a wheelchair since childhood, said he felt frustrated airline policies demanded he travel with a companion and pay the additional fare.

He said: “Even if I did have to have help on board, and I understand that I cannot say if I did have to escape in an emergency if I’d have to have help, to charge the whole of the cost on to the person who is disabled is just a bit unfair.”

Ryanair’s special assistance policies require disabled travellers be accompanied by an able-bodied person, aged 16 or over, on flights where it is evident the person is not self-reliant and could pose a safety risk.

Their policy reads: “In practice, this means anyone who is unable to unfasten their seat belt, support themselves, leave their seat and reach an emergency exit unaided, retrieve and fit a lifejacket, don an oxygen mask without assistance, or is unable to understand the safety briefing and any advice and instructions given by the crew in an emergency situation.”

Similarly Lufthansa’s policy reads: “Please note that a travelling companion is required in the following cases: if the passenger cannot help themselves in the event of an emergency evacuation.”

And email correspondence from British Airways states travel companions, providing assistance, will be required in situations including where travellers are unable to independently lift themselves or reach an emergency exit unaided.

It adds: “If you bring along a travel companion, you will have to pay his full fare, as he will be occupying a proper seat on the flight.”

Alex’s story: “I cannot deny the existence of my disability; it is a fact of life which has affected my mobility since birth. However, I can strive to limit its impact as much as possible.

“Throughout, the most pressing challenge has been overturning the preconceptions about disability, the unspoken assumption that a wheelchair signifies diminished expectation and ambition.

“Personally, I have done all I can to discredit this: it has driven me to achieve academically and made me even more determined to live the life I want. Unsurprisingly, being 21 and recently graduated, I am desperate to travel the world as independently as possible - outside the context of a family holiday. It therefore makes me sick to be told that because I happen to be in a wheelchair; I must pay significantly more to fly. “The situation is even more perplexing given that concessions for carers are provided in other instances. For example, as a keen music lover, I regularly attend Reading festival with friends, receiving a complimentary carer ticket that would normally be priced at £120. If festival organisers can subsidise such costs, I find it bewildering that airlines claim they are unable to do the same.

“At a time when the economy faces unprecedented crisis, underlined by rising unemployment, everybody is struggling, especially the disabled. Given that the Government recently announced a 20 per cent cut in disabled benefits, airlines are discriminating against a sector of society that is often literally unable to stand up for itself.”