Hovercare, the Hovertravel initiative to make hovercraft accessible for all, used World Sight Day to open its terminals and craft to those who are blind or partially sighted.

HoverCare Ambassador Andy Parnell explains: “We want to make people comfortable and confident about travelling with us, so we gave a detailed explanation of the measures in place to help customers. These include the choice of a ramp or steps, both with hi-visibility handrails, reserved Hovercare seats on the craft and our recently introduced large-print timetables.”

This Try Before You Fly experience had a different format to previous events, starting with an introduction at the Southsea terminal and then incorporating guided boarding for an operational flight with commentary through the crossing and then a return flight back to Southsea with the opportunity to ask questions.

There were enquiries about how luggage is handled, how to get the large print timetable and how to apply for a Hovercare card – all answered by the Hovercare ambassador, Andy, who added: “As much as we run these events to answer questions and encourage all customers to travel, we also always learn from direct communication with the attendees. We know that our Hovercare initiative will be constantly adapting to customers’ needs and we use feedback from these events to evolve our service.”