Planning Travel for Unaccompanied Minors
If you’re planning a trip for your child that includes flying solo, here are the guidelines and special services we provide to ensure their journey is safe and happy.
If you’re planning a trip for your child that includes flying solo, here are the guidelines and special services we provide to ensure their journey is safe and happy.
Unaccompanied minors are children above the age of five and below the age of 12 on the date of travel. This applies to both domestic and international routes. Children under five are not permitted to travel without a guardian.
Age policy for travel between India and Gulf countries
For the United Arab Emirates (UAE), children aged between 5-18 are regarded as Unaccompanied Minors (UM). For other Gulf countries, children aged between 5-16 are regarded as Unaccompanied Minors (UM). If two or more children are travelling, one aged between 5-12 and another between 12-18 years, the child below 12 years must be booked as an unaccompanied minor.
We need advance notice and information about the adults who will meet our team at the departure and arrival airports to provide this service.
What parents and guardians need to remember
Our dedicated customer service teams work to ensure that your child is taken good care of during the entire journey:
Please note that unaccompanied minors will not be booked to sit in emergency exit rows.
Unaccompanied minor services are provided for flights operated by Air India. Travel on itineraries involving other airlines is not permitted for unaccompanied minors.
Minor passengers travelling in a different class or cabin, though accompanied by the parent on the same flight, are to be treated at par with an unaccompanied minor. The requisite procedures applicable for travel of unaccompanied minor are to be adhered to. The only variation will be the handing over/taking over of the UM shall be at the entry of the aircraft, before boarding and after completion of disembarkation of passengers.
If your child has an onward connection
Minors travelling to the UK
For the safety and welfare of every child, passengers under the age of 18, travelling without a parent or legal guardian, must arrive with written consent as per the UK Border Force. If the child is travelling alone to the UK, a consent form must be signed by both parents.
For most recent and additional information visit https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor/if-youre-under-18
Minors travelling from the UK
If you are travelling with a child from the United Kingdom, you must get the permission of everyone with parental responsibility for the child or from a court of law before taking the minor abroad. You must carry the consent form, carry a valid photo identification proof (passport or driving license) of both the parents and the birth certificate of the child.
You can also email the consent form with the valid photo identification proof of both the parents and the birth certificate of the child to aitraffic.lhr@airindia.com at least 4 hours before the schedule departure of your flight.
For more details, refer to https://www.gov.uk/permission-take-child-abroad