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Nouvelair
Powered chairs need the airline’s prior approval · carried free · 48 h notice · no watt-hour cap on an installed battery.
- Advance notice
- 48hours before departure
- Powered wheelchair
- Conditional
- Lithium, battery installed
- No stated limit
- Cost to carry
- Free
Who to contact
Transcribed from the airline’s own pages, exactly as it labels them.
- PhoneTunisia — passenger assistance / call centre (named for special-assistance requests)
- PhoneFrance — call centre (named for special-assistance requests)
- PhoneUnited Kingdom — call centre (named for special-assistance requests)
- EmailService assistance passagers — send the assistance request 48 h before departure
- EmailBaggage claims (damaged, delayed or lost — send with the PIR report)
- Relay / textThe footer of every nouvelair.com page links to wa.me/21636020920. Nouvelair does not describe it as an accessibility or assistance channel; the pages on special assistance name only the email address and the three call-centre numbers.WhatsApp (link in the site footer, +216 36 020 920)
There is no dedicated disability desk, TTY or accessibility web form. Nouvelair names one channel for assistance: the passenger-assistance email customer.callcenter@nouvelair.com or the three call-centre numbers, 48 h before departure. The same three numbers are the general customer-service numbers on the Contact page. A separate Jasmin loyalty number (+216 70 020 980) appears in the site header; it is not an assistance line.
Read it from the source
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.
All three powered categories (WCBD dry battery, WCLB lithium, WCBW wet battery) are listed "En soute: oui / Accord préalable: oui" — hold only, prior approval required from Nouvelair or your travel agency. Each is accepted only if the chair can be carried upright; the battery must be firmly attached to the chair and its terminals protected against short circuit.
§10 (WCLB): hold only, prior approval required; the chair is accepted only if it can be carried upright. If it cannot, the battery must be removed and carried in the cabin. Lithium-ion batteries must meet the UN Manual of Tests and Criteria, Part III, sub-section 38.3.
"Note: Lorsque les batteries au lithium restent installées dans l'aide de locomotion, il n'y a pas de limite en wattheures" — when the lithium battery stays installed in the mobility aid there is no watt-hour limit. The chair must still be able to travel upright and needs prior approval.
Where the chair cannot be carried upright the battery must be removed into the cabin "à condition que sa capacité ne dépasse pas 300 Wh, ou deux batteries d'une capacité maximale de 160 Wh chacune soient transportées" — one battery up to 300 Wh, or two of at most 160 Wh each.
Not published for mobility aids. The 100-160 Wh spare-battery rules elsewhere on the same page cover portable electronic and portable medical devices, not wheelchairs, so they are not imported here.
Not published for mobility aids. Nouvelair's "maximum two spare batteries" figures apply to consumer and medical electronics; the wheelchair section gives no spare allowance. The "two batteries of 160 Wh" in §10 describes the chair's own removed battery configuration, not spares.
Removal is required only when the chair cannot be carried in an upright position: a lithium battery then goes into the cabin (≤300 Wh, or two ≤160 Wh); a dry battery is removed into the hold in a rigid container; a wet-battery chair is accepted only without its battery. Otherwise the battery stays installed and firmly attached.
§10 (WCBD, dry battery): hold only, prior approval required. The chair is accepted only if it can be carried upright; if not, the battery must be removed and carried in the hold, properly packed in a rigid container and securely stowed.
CONTRADICTION between two Nouvelair pages. §10 (WCBW): accepted in the hold with prior approval if the chair can be carried upright and the battery is securely fixed; otherwise "la batterie doit être retirée et le fauteuil roulant ne sera accepté que sans batterie". But the special-assistance page states flatly that wet-cell batteries are prohibited ("type de batterie (batteries humides interdites)"), and the baggage page lists electrolyte batteries among prohibited cabin items. Confirm with the call centre before travelling.
Articles interdits et règlements — §10 Fauteuils roulants et autres engins de déplacement électriques pour personnes à mobilité réduite (French) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Conseils et infos pratiques — Assistance spéciale (French) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Practical advice and information — Special assistance (English version of s1) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
"La batterie doit solidement être fixée au fauteuil roulant. Les bornes (pôles) de la batterie doivent être protégées contre tout court-circuit."
No spec sheet, MSDS or form is demanded. The only conformity requirement published is that lithium-ion batteries meet the UN Manual of Tests and Criteria, Part III, sub-section 38.3.
No maximum powered-chair size or hold-door aperture is published. The only geometric condition is that the chair must be able to be carried in an upright position.
Not published for powered chairs; Nouvelair asks for the chair's weight at booking but sets no stated maximum.
Conseils et infos pratiques — Assistance spéciale (French) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Not published.
Nouvelair uses the IATA codes: WCMP (manual, no restriction), WCBD (dry battery), WCLB (lithium battery), WCBW (wet battery). All three powered types are hold-only, need prior approval and must be able to travel upright.
Manual wheelchairs
Restricted-items list §10: "Fauteuils roulants manuels (WCMP): Aucune restriction" (manual wheelchairs: no restriction). Carriage is free and the type and weight must be declared at booking.
Articles interdits et règlements — §10 Fauteuils roulants et autres engins de déplacement électriques pour personnes à mobilité réduite (French) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Conseils et infos pratiques — Assistance spéciale (French) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
"Aucun fauteuil roulant à bord pendant le vol" — no wheelchair in the cabin during the flight. Note the English page renders the same line as "No wheelchairs are available onboard during the flight", which reads as being about an on-board aisle chair; this single sentence is the only thing Nouvelair publishes on cabin carriage, and §10 lists no cabin option for any chair type.
Conseils et infos pratiques — Assistance spéciale (French) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Practical advice and information — Special assistance (English version of s1) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Not published; Nouvelair states no wheelchair travels in the cabin, so it publishes no in-cabin stowage size.
No maximum wheelchair size is published; §10 says manual chairs carry "aucune restriction" and gives no figures.
Not published for mobility aids. Nouvelair's 32 kg / 158 cm "hors normes" rule on the baggage page is a general checked-baggage rule and is not stated to apply to wheelchairs, so it is not recorded here.
Bagage — franchises, bagages hors normes et bagage perdu (French) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Not published — Nouvelair promises priority at boarding, transfers and disembarkation but does not say where the chair is returned.
Manual chairs (WCMP) are the only category with no prior-approval requirement.
Booking & cost
"Pour préparer au mieux votre voyage, merci d'adresser votre demande 48 heures avant votre départ à notre service assistance passagers" (EN: "please send your request 48 hours before departure to our passenger assistance service"). The restricted-items page repeats it for the chair itself: "Nous vous recommandons de nous informer au plus tard 48 h avant votre départ du ou des types de fauteuil que vous souhaitez transporter."
Conseils et infos pratiques — Assistance spéciale (French) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Articles interdits et règlements — §10 Fauteuils roulants et autres engins de déplacement électriques pour personnes à mobilité réduite (French) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Practical advice and information — Special assistance (English version of s1) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
"Informations à fournir lors de la réservation: type et poids du fauteuil roulant (manuel ou à batterie); type de batterie." Powered chairs additionally need prior approval, which the restricted-items page says must be requested from Nouvelair or your travel agency.
Conseils et infos pratiques — Assistance spéciale (French) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Articles interdits et règlements — §10 Fauteuils roulants et autres engins de déplacement électriques pour personnes à mobilité réduite (French) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Practical advice and information — Special assistance (English version of s1) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
"Le transport des aides à la mobilité est gratuit" — EN: "Mobility aids are transported free of charge."
Conseils et infos pratiques — Assistance spéciale (French) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Practical advice and information — Special assistance (English version of s1) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Not published — Nouvelair says mobility aids travel free but gives no number of devices per passenger.
Nothing is published about liability for damaged mobility aids. Damaged, delayed or lost baggage must be reported at the arrival airport before customs to obtain a Property Irregularity Report, then sent with the claim to customer.baggage@nouvelair.com.
Bagage — franchises, bagages hors normes et bagage perdu (French) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
On board
"No wheelchairs are available onboard during the flight" (EN) / "Aucun fauteuil roulant à bord pendant le vol" (FR). Nouvelair also states that cabin crew may not lift or carry passengers.
Practical advice and information — Special assistance (English version of s1) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Conseils et infos pratiques — Assistance spéciale (French) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Not published.
Assistance and priority are given at boarding, transfers and disembarkation under WCHR / WCHS / WCHC, but two material limits apply: a maximum of 2 unaccompanied and 9 accompanied WCHC passengers per flight, and "le personnel de cabine ne peut ni aider à manger, ni porter les passagers, ni administrer de médicaments" (cabin crew cannot assist with eating, lift passengers or give medication).
Conseils et infos pratiques — Assistance spéciale (French) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Practical advice and information — Special assistance (English version of s1) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
"Les passagers PMR ne peuvent pas occuper de sièges situés aux issues de secours." Nothing is published about movable armrests or bulkhead seats.
Conseils et infos pratiques — Assistance spéciale (French) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Practical advice and information — Special assistance (English version of s1) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Worth knowing
The usable policy is split across two French pages: "Conseils et infos pratiques" (assistance categories, 48 h notice, free carriage, WCHC caps) and "Articles interdits et règlements" §10 (the battery rules). The English pages mirror the assistance text; the restricted-items page was read in French. Two things a traveller must know: (1) the two pages disagree on wet-cell batteries — the assistance page says they are prohibited, §10 accepts a WCBW chair in the hold with prior approval if it can travel upright with the battery firmly attached; (2) every powered chair needs prior approval and must be loadable upright, and if it cannot be carried upright the battery comes out (lithium into the cabin at ≤300 Wh or 2 x ≤160 Wh; dry cell into the hold in a rigid container; a wet-battery chair travels without its battery). No wheelchair dimension or weight limit of any kind is published; the 32 kg / 158 cm "hors normes" figures on the baggage page are general checked-baggage rules and are deliberately not recorded as mobility-aid limits. Nouvelair links two lithium-battery PDFs from the restricted-items page; the awareness PDF (6968f4102bee1.pdf) is a scanned image with no extractable text and added nothing.
Sources
Every figure above traces to one of these.
- s1 Conseils et infos pratiques — Assistance spéciale (French) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
- s2 Articles interdits et règlements — §10 Fauteuils roulants et autres engins de déplacement électriques pour personnes à mobilité réduite (French) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
- s3 Practical advice and information — Special assistance (English version of s1) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
- s4 Bagage — franchises, bagages hors normes et bagage perdu (French) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
- s5 Nous contacter — numéros du service client (French) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
Record quality
Record status researched · confidence high · 5 official sources · 6 contacts · 64% of the fields this reference tracks are answered. Newest source read 29 July 2026, the day before this page was built. What these mean.