LATAM offers three different types of wheelchair services (WCHR, WCHS, WCHC) depending on the passenger`s needs and condition.
Wheelchairs should be requested at the time of the reservation or no later than 48 hours before flight departure; through an SSR. Requests made within 48 hours to flight departure, the service will be requested and all the efforts will be done to provide the assistance at the Airport.
We recommend that requests for this service include a brief explanation; in all cases, the service will be confirmed.
Eventually, LATAM might request additional background to ensure the best service standard and avoid a major problem to passengers requiring a medical certificate for transportation.
The seats should preferably be assigned in the aisle near the aircraft exit doors.
Code |
Description |
Confirmation |
WCHR |
Passenger can walk up and down the stairs, get to their seat on their own, but needs to be transported to the aircraft as they may not be able to move long distances.. |
Automatic |
WCHS |
Passenger cannot walk up and down stairs and needs to be transported to the door of the aircraft, can reach the seat on their own. |
Automatic |
WCHC |
Passenger is not able to walk and needs to be taken to his/her seat. Not being able to walk does not mean inability to move, therefore he/she may travel unaccompanied, unless the degree of immobility prevents him/her from attending to himself in case of evacuation. |
Manual |
Wheelchair service for flights to and from the United States extends the scope, this is that this assistance must be granted from the door of the terminal building and during the boarding process as well as when disembarking when the passenger requests it.
- The passenger can transport the wheelchair with 1 battery of 300Wh or less or 2 batteries with 160Wh or les each.
- The battery must be fixed/attached to the wheelchair.
- Additional batteries are considered Hazardous Materials which means they must comply with the following stipulations:
- a) No more than two spare batteries can be transported in hand luggage and must be wrapped or contained in their original packing preventing short-circuits, or covering their terminals with adhesive tape in a protective sleeve or bag separate from each other.
- b) Spare batteries can have no more than 8 grams lithium content.
- Battery capacity must be indicated on the battery label. In the event capacity cannot be verified on the label, the passenger must present the technical specifications for the wheelchair at the airport to verify it complies with the aforementioned characteristics.
- To reserve and confirm this service, please contact your local GDS Helpdesk.
Passengers can take their own wheelchairs, which can be transported in the aircraft hold free of charge and without being part of the free baggage allowance, as well as other assistance items, such as crutches.
When passengers travel with their own wheelchair, the SSR code (WCBW, WCBD, WCMP or WCLB) must be associated to the wheelchair service that will be provided at the airport by LATAM.
Therefore, passengers should be consulted what kind of assistance will require at the airport and add the applicable wheelchair SSR code (WCHR, WCHS or WCHC).The wheelchair codes provided by the passenger are:
Code |
Description |
Confirmation |
WCBW |
Wheelchair or motorized device propelled by dry, gel, spillable battery (must be provided by the passenger). |
Automatic |
WCBD |
Wheelchair or motorized device, such as a "scooter". Powered by dry batteries and gel batteries (non-spillable). Passengers with these chairs must arrive 1 hour before other passengers. |
Automatic |
WCMP |
Manual wheelchair power, this code is used to identify passengers who bring their own "manual" wheelchair. |
Automatic |
WCLB |
This code is used to transport wheelchairs with lithium batteries. |
Automatic |
Considerations about lithium battery wheelchairs
The acceptance for lithium battery wheelchairs must take into consideration the following information:
In case of voluntary changes of flight or route, the service must be requested again taking into consideration the conditions for its confirmation.
At the moment, this function is not available on our NDC portal.
If you need to request the special wheelchair service, we ask that you contact our specialists through our preferred customer service channel: the chat available here on LATAM Trade (in addition to our usual customer service channels).
This way, our team will take care of processing your request in your purchase order.