Sonoma County airport adds Aira Access smartphone app to assist vision-impaired passengers

Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport has launched a new service to help blind and low-vision passengers navigate the terminal.

The free service, called Aira Access, allows vision-impaired travelers to connect with a trained agent who uses a live video stream from the user’s smartphone to provide visual guidance in the terminal. Checking a flight status, as well as locating gates, luggage and TSA checkpoints, are all elements of the service.

Once the app is downloaded to an Apple or Android cellphone, the service automatically becomes available when someone visits Sonoma County Airport. A brief registration and call to an agent are part of sign-up, but no minutes are charged to monthly phone plans when the service is used inside the airport. It is available at more than 30 airports nationwide, plus London’s Heathrow Airport and New Zealand’s Wellington International Airport.

For more information about Aira, visit: www.aira.io.

You can reach Staff Writer Kevin Fixler at 707-521-5336 or kevin.fixler@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @kfixler.