straight back to work, but this was an
expensive option. As the girls are a
little older now we decided to try the
unaccompanied minor service.”
Rules and reservations
When children travel as
unaccompanied minors, the airline
agrees to escort them onto their flight,
assist them with any connections and
hand them over to a pre-arranged
person on arrival. In addition, some
airlines have special children’s lounges
in airports with books, games and
snacks, where children can wait for
connecting flights.
Hong Kong mum-of-three
Amanda Walsh worked as a flight
attendant and cabin manager for an
Australian airline for many years, and
says the care her airline provided for
unaccompanied minors was excellent.
“We would meet the children at the
boarding gate, and we would usually
board them first. One of the flight
attendants would settle the child into
their seat and have a chat with them,
explaining the safety procedures if
they hadn’t flown before and showing
them where their call bell was. It is
really important to build a rapport
with the child so they feel safe and
secure. During the flight, we kept
them busy with the activity packs,
movies if it was a long flight, and (in
the pre-9/11 era) visits to the flight
deck to see the pilots. Once we landed,
we would hand the child over to
ground staff if they were transiting –
my airline had a designated lounge
for unaccompanied minors in all the
major airports. If the child was at their
destination, we would take them to
meet their carer.”
Each airline has a specific set of
rules and regulations about the age
of children they will accept to fly
solo. Children generally need to be
five years or older to take a non-stop
flight on their own, and many airlines
stipulate that a child needs to be over
seven years old before they can take
a journey that requires a connecting
flight. Often, there are restrictions on
connecting flights – for example, they
cannot involve a change of airport,
and there can often be no longer than
a five-hour layover period. Children
over 12 are generally allowed to fly
alone, but they often don’t have to –
many airlines offer parents the option
of sending them as unaccompanied
minors up to the age of 17. Sometimes,
12- to 17-year-olds can fly as “Young
Travellers” – which means the airline
is aware of their travel arrangements,
but no special help is provided.
While booking a child as an
unaccompanied minor does save
an airfare for a parent or guardian
to escort the child, the service does
not come free. Unaccompanied
minors usually have to pay the
full adult airfare, plus an extra
service fee, which usually amounts
to somewhere around US$100 to
US$200 for a return international
flight. Reservations cannot be made
