Fragments only. CemAir publishes some assistance information but not a full mobility-aid policy. What is below is everything it actually states. Everything marked “not published” genuinely is — confirm it with the airline rather than assuming the international baseline applies.
Who to contact
Transcribed from the airline’s own pages, exactly as it labels them.
- PhoneSouth Africa — Ticket Bookings & Enquiries, printed as 0861 236 247; there is no separate accessibility or disability deskMon–Fri 06h00–19h00; Sat, Sun & public holidays 08h00–17h00
- PhoneInternational — Ticket Bookings & Enquiries (also the Head Office number)Mon–Fri 06h00–19h00; Sat, Sun & public holidays 08h00–17h00
- PhoneOR Tambo (Johannesburg) station office — the hub desk for day-of-departure assistance; printed as 086 123 6247, the same digits as the 0861 236 247 sharecall line
- EmailTicket Bookings & Enquiries — the general reservations address CemAir names for booking matters
- EmailHead Office — general enquiries
- EmailOR Tambo station office (Johannesburg hub)
- Online form
No disability desk, TTY, text relay, video relay or WhatsApp line is published. Every station office (Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, East London, George, Hoedspruit, Kimberley, Margate, Port Elizabeth, OR Tambo, plus Victoria Falls, Harare, Maun and Kasane) has its own number and e-mail on the Contact Us page — useful because all assistance other than WCHR is arranged at the check-in desk on the day. The site carries a third-party web-chat widget, not a relay service. Booking, check-in and manage-booking all run on an external engine at bookings.flycemair.co.za, which is where wheelchair-service "options and pricing" appear; nothing about that pricing is published on cemair.co.za itself.
Read it from the source
- Medical And Special Needs — assistance codes, safety-assistant rule, boarding limitations (opens in a new tab)
- Baggage — allowances, 32 kg per-piece limit, out-of-gauge rules and the dangerous-goods guide (opens in a new tab)
- Conditions of Carriage — liability, disabled passengers, denied boarding, dangerous goods (opens in a new tab)
- Codeshare Flights — assistance on partner-operated segments (opens in a new tab)
Powered wheelchairs & batteries
The part that goes wrong. Battery chemistry and watt-hours decide whether your chair flies, and the rules differ depending on whether the battery can be removed.
Not published, and it is the central gap in this record. Nothing on cemair.co.za mentions electric wheelchairs, mobility scooters or power-assist chairs — not the Medical And Special Needs section, not the Baggage tab, not the icon-based dangerous-goods guide, not the Conditions of Carriage. A powered-chair user cannot rely on anything published and must clear the chair with Reservations (+27 861 236 247 / +27 11 021 0270) before booking.
Travel Information — Medical And Special Needs (wheelchair assistance, WCHR/WCHS/WCHC codes, safety assistant, no lifting device) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Travel Information — Baggage (allowances, 32 kg single-piece limit, ACSA out-of-gauge rules at OR Tambo, dangerous-goods icon guide) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Terms and Conditions — Conditions of Carriage (§3 Limitation of Liability, §6 Minor Children / Pregnant Travelers and Disabled Persons, §12 Denied Boarding, §13 Dangerous Goods) and Conditions of Carriage – Codeshare Partners (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Not published for mobility aids. The Baggage tab's dangerous-goods guide is icon-only: "Lithium Batteries" and "Battery Bank" appear under "Permitted Onboard (Hand Baggage)" — i.e. loose batteries and power banks in the cabin, with no watt-hour figure, no quantity and no reference to wheelchairs. Whether a lithium-powered chair is accepted at all is unstated.
Travel Information — Baggage (allowances, 32 kg single-piece limit, ACSA out-of-gauge rules at OR Tambo, dangerous-goods icon guide) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Not published. CemAir states no watt-hour figure anywhere on its site, for an installed wheelchair battery or for anything else.
Not published. CemAir never describes removing a wheelchair battery into the cabin and states no watt-hour cap for one.
Not published. No watt-hour figure appears in the dangerous-goods guide, which is icons only, and no spare-battery rule for mobility aids exists.
Not published. CemAir gives no number of spare batteries for a wheelchair, and no general spare-battery count for consumer electronics that could be mistaken for one.
Not published. CemAir does not say whether a wheelchair battery must be disconnected, removed or carried into the cabin.
Not published. Gel, AGM, sealed lead-acid and dry-cell batteries are never mentioned on CemAir's site, and no rule permits or refuses a non-spillable battery that stays installed in a wheelchair.
Not addressed for mobility aids. Conditions of Carriage §13 lists among dangerous articles that "must not be carried in passengers' baggage": "Corrosives such as acids, alkalis, mercury and wet cell batteries" — a generic prohibition with no published wheelchair exception either way. CemAir publishes no spillable-battery packing, upright-loading or leak-proof-container procedure.
Not published. No terminal-insulation, taping, disconnection or immobilisation requirement is stated for a wheelchair battery.
Not published. No battery specification sheet, MSDS, UN 38.3 evidence or manufacturer label is asked for. The only form CemAir requires of an assisted passenger is the Special Assistance Request Form handed in at check-in, which concerns the assistance needed, not the device.
Travel Information — Medical And Special Needs (wheelchair assistance, WCHR/WCHS/WCHC codes, safety assistant, no lifting device) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Not published. CemAir states no maximum powered-chair size and publishes no cargo-door aperture or hold dimension for the CRJ-100/200, CRJ-700, CRJ-900, Dash 8 Q100/Q300/Q400 or Beech 1900D. Given that fleet, hold access is the decisive question for a power chair and it is unanswerable from the website — see aircraft_hold_note.
About Us — Exceptional Fleet (fleet composition) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Aircraft Leasing — Our Fleet (aircraft types operated and offered for ACMI/lease) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Not published. No weight limit is stated for a powered chair. The general baggage rules — "no single piece of luggage may exceed 32kg" and, for departures from OR Tambo, "Maximum permitted weight for OOG baggage is 32 kg" — carry no mobility-aid exemption, but neither is published as a wheelchair limit and neither is recorded here as one.
Travel Information — Baggage (allowances, 32 kg single-piece limit, ACSA out-of-gauge rules at OR Tambo, dangerous-goods icon guide) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Not published. CemAir says nothing about returning a powered chair at the aircraft steps or delivering it to the gate.
The fleet is the constraint CemAir does describe: 5 CRJ-900, 2 CRJ-700, 7 CRJ-100/200 LR, 4 Dash-8 Q400, 2 Dash-8 Q300, 1 Dash-8 100 and 6 Beech 1900D, 30+ aircraft in total. Boarding is by airstair with about six steps, "There is currently no lifting device available for the aircraft type we utilise on our flights", and "Some of our aircraft do not operate with cabin attendants on-board". None of that is tied to a published rule for the chair itself.
Manual wheelchairs
Not published. The Medical And Special Needs section covers airport wheelchair assistance only (WCHR / WCHS / WCHC) and never says whether a passenger's own manual wheelchair is accepted, how it must be presented, or whether it is carried free. The nearest reference is the ACSA out-of-gauge list republished on the Baggage tab, which names "Orthopaedic devices" among out-of-gauge categories "accepted, subject to airline acceptance policies" for departures from OR Tambo.
Travel Information — Medical And Special Needs (wheelchair assistance, WCHR/WCHS/WCHC codes, safety assistant, no lifting device) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Travel Information — Baggage (allowances, 32 kg single-piece limit, ACSA out-of-gauge rules at OR Tambo, dangerous-goods icon guide) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Not published. CemAir does not say a folding manual chair may be stowed in the cabin; its list of personal items allowed in the cabin runs to a handbag, foldable garment bag, overcoat, "umbrella or walking stick", camera, reading matter, infant food, carry cot, laptop and mobile phone. The Medical And Special Needs page states "A wheelchair does not fit down the aisle of our aircraft."
Travel Information — Medical And Special Needs (wheelchair assistance, WCHR/WCHS/WCHC codes, safety assistant, no lifting device) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Travel Information — Baggage (allowances, 32 kg single-piece limit, ACSA out-of-gauge rules at OR Tambo, dangerous-goods icon guide) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Not published. CemAir describes no in-cabin wheelchair stowage space on any of its CRJ, Dash 8 or Beech 1900D aircraft, and therefore publishes no cabin stowage dimensions.
No wheelchair size limit is published, and no hold-door aperture is published for any aircraft in the CRJ-100/200, CRJ-700, CRJ-900, Dash 8 Q100/Q300/Q400 or Beech 1900D fleet. The only dimension tables on the site are the ACSA baggage-system limits for departures from OR Tambo (standard bag max 900 x 450 x 720 mm; out-of-gauge max 2500 x 800 x 750 mm) — an airport handling-system rule, not a stated chair limit, so it is recorded in aircraft_hold_note rather than as a chair dimension.
Travel Information — Baggage (allowances, 32 kg single-piece limit, ACSA out-of-gauge rules at OR Tambo, dangerous-goods icon guide) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 About Us — Exceptional Fleet (fleet composition) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
No weight limit is published for a wheelchair. Two general figures on the Baggage tab may bite and no mobility-aid exemption is published against either: "no single piece of luggage may exceed 32kg. Any bag over this limit must be shipped separately as cargo", and for departures from OR Tambo "Maximum permitted weight for OOG baggage is 32 kg". Neither is stated as a wheelchair rule, so neither is recorded as one — confirm with Reservations.
Travel Information — Baggage (allowances, 32 kg single-piece limit, ACSA out-of-gauge rules at OR Tambo, dangerous-goods icon guide) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Not published. CemAir says nothing about surrendering a wheelchair at the aircraft door or having it returned at the steps or gate on arrival.
CemAir's own aircraft-side constraints are the binding ones for a large chair: boarding is by airstair ("our aircraft are equipped with approximately 6 (six) stairs leading into the cabin"), there is "currently no lifting device available for the aircraft type we utilise on our flights", and "A wheelchair does not fit down the aisle of our aircraft."
Booking & cost
No advance-notice deadline in hours is published for assistance. WCHR "may be booked together with your flight", and "All other special assistance required can be arranged and booked at the check-in desk on the day of departure." The only published deadline is arrival: "Passengers should check-in at least 90 minutes prior to departure." (By contrast CemAir requires 72 h for pets and 3 days for unaccompanied minors, so the absence of a mobility deadline is deliberate, not an omission of the page.)
Travel Information — Medical And Special Needs (wheelchair assistance, WCHR/WCHS/WCHC codes, safety assistant, no lifting device) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
"Wheelchair services as defined below under WCHR are readily available at all airports and may be booked together with your flight. Options and pricing are presented when you book your ticket." "When Special Assistance is required, passengers need to complete the Special Assistance Request Form. This form can be handed in at the check-in counter on the day of departure." Assisted passengers "should not use the online check-in facility". On codeshare segments assistance "must be requested and confirmed directly with the Operating Carrier".
Travel Information — Medical And Special Needs (wheelchair assistance, WCHR/WCHS/WCHC codes, safety assistant, no lifting device) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Travel Information — Codeshare Flights (special service requests go to the operating airline) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Not published for the mobility aid itself: CemAir nowhere says a wheelchair is carried free or outside the checked allowance (21 kg domestic, 30 kg regional; excess R40.00/kg domestic, R60.00/kg regional outbound). Separately, the airport wheelchair service is sold, not simply provided — "Options and pricing are presented when you book your ticket" — but the price only appears in the booking engine, so no figure can be quoted here.
Travel Information — Medical And Special Needs (wheelchair assistance, WCHR/WCHS/WCHC codes, safety assistant, no lifting device) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Travel Information — Baggage (allowances, 32 kg single-piece limit, ACSA out-of-gauge rules at OR Tambo, dangerous-goods icon guide) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Not published. CemAir states no free allowance of mobility devices per passenger, and mobility aids are not named anywhere in the baggage rules.
Conditions of Carriage §3: "In any event, the Carrier accepts no responsibility and/or liability for any injury, loss, delays, theft or damages suffered to a passenger, baggage or cargo", and it is "the responsibility of the passenger" to arrange "insurance to cover for any loss, delays, damage or theft". §7: claims "expire should written notice not be received by the Carrier within 10 (ten) days from date of the incident." The ticket invokes the Warsaw/Guadalajara Art. 22 limits (Montreal on codeshares). No mobility-aid liability rule exists.
Terms and Conditions — Conditions of Carriage (§3 Limitation of Liability, §6 Minor Children / Pregnant Travelers and Disabled Persons, §12 Denied Boarding, §13 Dangerous Goods) and Conditions of Carriage – Codeshare Partners (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Travel Information — Codeshare Flights (special service requests go to the operating airline) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
On board
CemAir's own wording is internally contradictory, so no value is recorded: "There is currently no lifting device available for the aircraft type we utilise on our flights. The aisle chair is used for seating. A wheelchair does not fit down the aisle of our aircraft. A support person will be required to carry you up and down the stairs and lift you into and out of the aircraft seat on boarding and disembarking." A sentence asserting an aisle chair sits beside a requirement that a companion carry you — verify with Reservations.
Travel Information — Medical And Special Needs (wheelchair assistance, WCHR/WCHS/WCHC codes, safety assistant, no lifting device) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Not published. CemAir says nothing about lavatory access, and gives no aircraft-by-aircraft note for the CRJ, Dash 8 or Beech 1900D fleet.
CemAir does not lift or carry passengers: "A support person will be required to carry you up and down the stairs and lift you into and out of the aircraft seat on boarding and disembarking. Some of our aircraft do not operate with cabin attendants on-board, therefore passengers who require this service MUST travel with an able-bodied passenger 16 years or older." Anyone unable to assist in their own evacuation needs "a safety assistant, 16 years or older". Conditions of Carriage §12.10 makes travelling without an "abled body person if ill or disabled" a ground for denied boarding.
Travel Information — Medical And Special Needs (wheelchair assistance, WCHR/WCHS/WCHC codes, safety assistant, no lifting device) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Terms and Conditions — Conditions of Carriage (§3 Limitation of Liability, §6 Minor Children / Pregnant Travelers and Disabled Persons, §12 Denied Boarding, §13 Dangerous Goods) and Conditions of Carriage – Codeshare Partners (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
No accessible-seating, movable-armrest, bulkhead or exit-row policy is published. CemAir only says checking in 90 minutes ahead lets it "take care of these travelling and seating requirements before those of other customers", and that assisted passengers should not use online check-in, which is where seats are otherwise pre-selected.
Travel Information — Medical And Special Needs (wheelchair assistance, WCHR/WCHS/WCHC codes, safety assistant, no lifting device) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Travel Information — Check-In (counter opening and closing times, online check-in) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Fleet detail. CemAir publishes no hold-door aperture or hold dimension for any of its aircraft. Fleet as published: 5 CRJ-900, 2 CRJ-700, 7 CRJ-100/200 LR, 4 Dash-8 Q400, 2 Dash-8 Q300, 1 Dash-8 100, 6 Beech 1900D (30+ aircraft), all narrow regional types boarded by airstair ("approximately 6 (six) stairs leading into the cabin") with "currently no lifting device available". The only published dimension tables are ACSA's baggage-acceptance limits for departures from OR Tambo, republished by CemAir: standard checked bags 250–900 mm long, 250–450 mm wide, 75–720 mm high, 4–32 kg; out-of-gauge items (the category that lists "Orthopaedic devices") max 2500 mm long for Terminal A/B and 2000 mm for CTB, 800 mm wide, 750 mm high and 32 kg. Those are airport handling-system limits, not aircraft hold or chair limits, but a tall or heavy power chair departing Johannesburg would exceed the 750 mm out-of-gauge height and the 32 kg out-of-gauge weight, and CemAir publishes no mobility-aid exemption from either.
Worth knowing
CemAir publishes a real special-assistance section but no mobility-aid policy at all. What it does say is about the passenger, not the device: WCHR/WCHS/WCHC classification codes, check-in 90 minutes ahead, no online check-in for assisted passengers, a Special Assistance Request Form handed in at the counter, and the hard rule that anyone who cannot assist in their own evacuation, or who cannot climb the roughly six airstairs unaided, must bring a safety assistant or support person aged 16+ who will do the carrying and lifting — there is no lifting device and "A wheelchair does not fit down the aisle of our aircraft." Conditions of Carriage §12.10 and §12.13 make travelling without that person a ground for denied boarding, so this is enforceable, not advisory. Nothing is published about carrying a manual or electric wheelchair: no acceptance statement, no free allowance, no dimensions, no weight, no battery rule and no watt-hour figure anywhere on the site — the dangerous-goods guide is icons only. The general limits a chair would meet are the 21 kg domestic / 30 kg regional checked allowance, the 32 kg per-piece cargo threshold, and ACSA's out-of-gauge ceiling of 2500 x 800 x 750 mm and 32 kg for departures from OR Tambo, none of which is written as a mobility-aid rule. CemAir also flies ACMI/charter and codeshare: on a codeshare-operated segment "CemAir does not guarantee acceptance" of wheelchair or mobility assistance and the request must go to the operating carrier. Booking, check-in and the wheelchair-service pricing all sit on an external engine (bookings.flycemair.co.za) that publishes none of this. flycemair.co.za now serves only a redirect banner to cemair.co.za. Practical advice for a power-chair user: ring +27 861 236 247 (int. +27 11 021 0270) and get the chair's weight, dimensions and battery type approved in writing before buying a ticket.
Sources
Every figure above traces to one of these.
- s1 Travel Information — Medical And Special Needs (wheelchair assistance, WCHR/WCHS/WCHC codes, safety assistant, no lifting device) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
- s2 Travel Information — Baggage (allowances, 32 kg single-piece limit, ACSA out-of-gauge rules at OR Tambo, dangerous-goods icon guide) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
- s3 Travel Information — Check-In (counter opening and closing times, online check-in) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
- s4 Travel Information — Codeshare Flights (special service requests go to the operating airline) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
- s5 Contact Us (reservations and international numbers, office hours, per-airport station offices) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
- s6 Terms and Conditions — Conditions of Carriage (§3 Limitation of Liability, §6 Minor Children / Pregnant Travelers and Disabled Persons, §12 Denied Boarding, §13 Dangerous Goods) and Conditions of Carriage – Codeshare Partners (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
- s7 About Us — Exceptional Fleet (fleet composition) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
- s8 Aircraft Leasing — Our Fleet (aircraft types operated and offered for ACMI/lease) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
- s9 Travel Information — Visually Impaired (guide dogs, self-supplied escort) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
Record quality
Record status partial · confidence medium · 9 official sources · 7 contacts · 7% of the fields this reference tracks are answered. Newest source read 29 July 2026, the day before this page was built. What these mean.