A chairlift providing a seat for transporting a passenger along a rail inclined at a substantially uniformly angle, includes a chair assembly with a base housing a motor unit and a carriage supporting the chair assembly in a substantially upright position for movement along the rail and being positionable relative to the chair assembly to provide a spatial relationship therebetween for accommodating the angle of the inclined rail. The chairlift further includes a swivel mechanism incorporating a sliding component and a swivel component for enabling the seat to move along an arcuate path relative to the base, between a transport position and offset access positions. The chairlift also includes a safety interlock for locking the seat in the transport position and for disabling chairlift operations unless the seat is locked in the transport position.