Sensory Rooms at UK Airports
What is a Sensory Room? A comfortable space for people that encourages interaction with their environment and increases or maintains functional skills. Features can include interactive equipment – shapes, patterns and textures with changing lights, sounds, and smells. Some examples are shown below with Bristol Airport’s Sensory Room. The National Autistic Society explains click here that the overactive will feel calm, and the inactive stimulated.
Who can use a Sensory Room? People with disabilities such as autism, dementia or cognitive impairment can benefit from a safe and interactive place when in unfamiliar surroundings.
Airports can be
busy places and at times overwhelming, so we decided to review 17 UK airports
to find out which currently offer sensory rooms – so you don’t have to go
looking for information.
We have kept these in order of our Airport Accessibility rankings as some are stronger in other areas (click here for more from our access survey in 2020) and here we highlight if a sensory room is available, any other facilities offered, and recommendations for airports.
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*Bristol – Yes, a Sensory Room is available click here for details and to pre-book.
*Gatwick – Yes, a Sensory Room is available click here for details and to pre-book.
Aberdeen – No sensory or quiet rooms are available, but there is a large seating area at Gate 10 which generally has a lot less passengers than the main departure lounge, so it is ideal if you are looking for a quieter area. The assistance team also recommended the John Muir Lounge beside Gate 11. For more details at Aberdeen Airport click here with video and picture slides.
Glasgow – No sensory or quiet rooms are available, but the helpful assistance team advised are in the process of identifying a suitable place to install a sensory room which will also be used as a quiet room, but this will not be complete until 2023. For more about Glasgow Airport click here.
Edinburgh – No sensory or dedicated quiet rooms are available, but the assistance team advised the Special Assistance waiting area by Gate 16 is available and can be a quieter space. For more from Edinburgh Airport click here including a social story.
Liverpool – No sensory room is available, but the helpful assistance team advised the Quiet space is located away from the main departure lounge, adjacent to the Prayer room. The Quiet space has comfortable seating, a tv with subtitles, a flight information screen, some fixed activities and reading material. For Liverpool Airport’s info click here including being awarded Ostomy Friendly Airport status.
Cardiff – No sensory or quiet rooms are available, but the assistance team advised a Prayer room is available landside but cannot guarantee it will not be in use, if looking for a quieter area. For assistance information at Cardiff Airport click here.
Prestwick – No sensory or quiet rooms are available, and the assistance team failed to respond in any way to our enquiry (with 30 days). For assistance at Glasgow Prestwick Airport click here and detailed Access Guides with images are available with AccessAble – here we found Departure Lounge has a quieter link corridor and Gates 1-8 has an open Passenger Assistance area with a few seats.
East Midlands – No sensory room but 2 Quiet rooms are offered – opposite check in desk 26, and after security opposite Gate 12 click here for more from East Midlands airport. We would recommend a more individual response to enquiries as only an automatic message has been received (with 30 days).
Belfast – No sensory room is available, but the assistance team advised there is a multi-use ‘Quiet Room’ open to all, also used for praying. For more from Belfast Airport click here with Autism Guides.
Manchester – No sensory room is available, but a quiet room called ‘The Sunflower Room’ is in Terminal 1. This is available for people who need to break away from the noise, bright lights and crowds of the main Departure Lounge to help them relax and feel calm in a quieter environment click here for details at Manchester Airport. We would recommend a more individual response to enquiries as only an automatic message has been received (with 30 days).
*London Heathrow – Yes, in Terminal 3 a Sensory Room is available and there’s no need to pre-book click here for video and a helpful guide ‘Flying with Dementia’ is offered click here to view online. Unfortunately, it is unclear if plans for other terminals are underway as suggested in 2019 click here. The assistance team only sent automatic emails repeating information on their website – we would recommend a more individual response to enquiries (with 30 days).
Luton – No sensory room is available, but a quiet room is located next to gate 17 in departures. The helpful assistance team advised the quiet room is separate from the prayer room, so you don’t need to whisper to use this calm area. They are also currently planning to create a sensory space. For Luton’s accessibility information click here.
Stansted – No sensory room is available, but the helpful assistance team advised there is a quiet seating area by the gates, however it is not a separate room and can be used by anyone. For Stansted click here offering Sunflower Lanyards.
London City – The assistance team confirmed they do not have any sensory or prayer rooms at the airport. There are times when some of the gates are pretty quiet, but this is something that is not always guaranteed as we may have flights departing from those gates. You may also find other passengers sitting in that area waiting for their flight. For London City Airport details click here.
Leeds Bradford – No sensory or quiet rooms are available, but there is a quieter waiting area and click here for more details, including a journey guide and how an escorted quiet route through the airport is offered.
Birmingham – No sensory room, but for details click here as their info leaflet shows a ‘Sunflower Room’ open to anyone if the airport environment has become overwhelming. This has two 3-seater sofas, a bean bag and a small selection of books to use in the room. The helpful assistance team advised the room is next to Gate 47, opposite a Costa store, WHSmith store and passenger toilets. A Flight Information Screen is located within a few metres of the room.
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From our research, only 3 of 17 UK airports currently offer sensory rooms – Bristol, Gatwick and London Heathrow’s Terminal 3. We hope plans to introduce sensory rooms across airports will begin soon and that this will be considered by those currently without plans. Many people can benefit from these spaces and this could help more people experience the joys a holiday can bring. In turn, airports may attract more passengers as facilities designed for their comfort are available.
Interested in a lanyard? The Sunflower is a globally recognised symbol for non-visible disabilities, also known as hidden disabilities or invisible disabilities. You can pick up your Sunflower Lanyard in airports or find local to you online click here to find out more. To order specific lanyards and in different languages click here for online shop.
If you’d like us to research other areas, please do let us know click here to get in touch with your thoughts.
Take care,
Altogether
Travel
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