(ANSA) – ROME, MAY 17 – “Flying beyond sight, destination for inclusion”: this is the pilot project for the employment inclusion of blind and visually impaired people in the airport handling sector presented today in Rome, in the presence of the Minister for Disability Alessandra Locatelli.
The initiative – which arises from the collaboration between Uici, the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired, and Swissport – will launch with the start of the 2024 summer season at Fiumicino airport. For the “first time” in Italy, visually impaired people will be employed in ground assistance activities for passengers. Following the training course, from July the first two people will begin working in the “Lost & Found” sector for the search and return of misplaced baggage at the Rome airport, where Swissport manages over 50% of flights and provides assistance to land to 35 airlines, including Ita Airways. The start of the experimentation involves an initial seasonal assignment. The objective is “to lay the foundations for a pilot project which, in addition to Fiumicino, can be extended to Milan Linate and the other airports in which Swissport operates, as well as defining a best practice that can be replicated in airports around the world”. “Today there are more than 30 million blind and partially sighted people in Europe and 1.5 million in Italy, with an unemployment rate that is still worrying. With adequate training, however, visual impairment does not preclude the majority of job paths. Creating adequate opportunities and eradicating prejudices is just one of the aspects that Uici works on every day”, underline Uici and Swissport.
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