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Unaccompanied Minors FAQ

Written by Adrian Tupper, and subsequently updated by ourselves. The original was based on information found on the websites of airlines departing from Edinburgh Airport.


General

Unaccompanied minors have traditionally been welcomed on flights. Children visiting relatives or even returning home from boarding schools have benefited from the excellent service offered by the airlines. However in these changing times we cannot take it for granted that our children can be sent off safely to their granny in Lewis, in England or indeed further a field. This FAQ attempts to clarify matters regarding the carriage of unaccompanied minors and is a useful guide to parents and those planning trips for children.

The "flag carriers" tend to have the best policies for unaccompanied minors, although there may be an additional cost involved. Budget airlines in general do not permit unaccompanied minors. The age at which a minor is allowed to travel unaccompanied varies from airline to airline. As always, check the details and make arrangements at the time of booking *not* at check-in.

Below is a list of airlines and their policy regarding carriage of unaccompanied minors. Of course, children are not "unaccompanied" if they are being supervised by airline staff and we use the term to mean that they are not travelling with a parent, guardian or adult friend or relation.

The Airlines

IMPORTANT:- Please check the information here with the airline. The airline may change their policy and it is difficult to always know when this has happened.


 AER LINGUS

Aer Lingus no longer carry unaccompanied minors.

 BRITISH AIRWAYS

5 year olds may travel on BA's "Skyflier Solo Service". If the flight connects
with another BA flight then the child must be 6 years old. Call BA on
0845 77 333 77 and request the Skyflyer Solo service".

The Skyflyer Solo service is subject to the normal fare tariff, plus a supervision fee per child per direction equivalent to USD 50 or approximately GBP 32, depending upon exchange rate fluctuations.

Request the Skyflyer Solo service at the time of booking and at least seven days in advance of travelling.



 BRITISH EUROPEAN

12 year olds may travel unaccompanied. 6 to 11s may travel unaccompanied only
by prior arrangement. Call reservations on 08705 676676.

 BMI (previously BRITISH MIDLAND AIRWAYS)

5 year olds may travel unaccompanied by arrangement and with a signed form
which is handed over at check-in.

IMPORTANT NOTE: bmi flights operated by bmiBaby, EDI to EMA and CWL at the time of writing, do not offer this service. Please refer to the bmiBaby notes, below.

 BMIBABY

14 year olds may travel unaccompanied. Under 14s must be accompanied by an
adult.

 EASYJET

14 year olds may travel unaccompanied. Under 14s must be accompanied by a
passenger aged 16 or over.

 EASTERN AIRWAYS

6 year olds and over by arrangement.

 AIR FRANCE

Children of all ages may travel unaccompanied on AF. Under 5s must use AF's
paid escort service. Under 2s are subject to an infant fare and do not travel
free of charge. 5 to 12 year olds may use AF's "UM Escort Service" which
is provided free of charge.

 GO

12 to 16 year olds may travel unaccompanied on GO by prior arrangement. Call
0870 607 6543. Under 12s must be accompanied by a passenger aged 16 or over.

 KLM

5 to 12 year olds may travel on KLM's unaccompanied minors service. 12 to 18
year olds may travel alone but may use this service if they wish.
Call KLM on 00 31 20 474 77 47.

 LOGANAIR

Please refer to the details for British Airways, for whom Loganair provide all
their services.

 LUFTHANSA

5 to 11 year olds may travel unaccompanied on LH but there is a charge
of up to 57 euros per child or family group. A female member of LH's staff will look
after the children at all times.

 RYANAIR

12 year olds may travel unaccompanied although 12 to 15s require an indemnity
form signed by a parent or legal guardian which must be presented a check-in.

 SCOTAIRWAYS

6 year olds may travel unaccompanied by prior arrangement.

 SWISS

2 to 11 year olds may travel unaccompanied bu prior arrangement although Swiss
do not commit themselves to this policy. They only state that they are
"generally happy" to offer the service.


Fares

Airlines usually offer discounts for 2 to 11 year olds whether travelling with an adult or travelling unaccompanied. Some budget airlines do not have a child discount.

Comments

It costs an airline to look after an unaccompanied child. Therefore it is no surprise that those offering the cheapest fares are also those who are least likely to offer an unaccompanied minor service. There is a worrying trend here, best illustrated with bmi. Their EDI to EMA service has been transferred to bmiBaby which does not permit under 14s to travel unaccompanied. This route has instantly gone from one of the best to one of the worst for unaccompanied minors. Special mention must be made to the smaller airlines who still manage to offer an unaccompanied minors service. This means British European and ScotAirways.  However both these airlines are struggling to compete at the time of writing and we shall keep watch on any developments along the lines of bmiBaby, above.

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