Without parents - off to the plane: when children fly alone

Children under the age of 12 are often only allowed to fly with an airline escort service.

Flying is especially exciting for children. If you fly off without parents, all the more. Children over the age of 12 are allowed to travel alone on most airlines. But the conditions are different.

Traveling alone as a child – that sounds like a big one adventure and in a way it is. I can still remember my first flight very well. I was in 3rd grade, nine years old and was allowed to fly alone from Düsseldorf to Berlin with British Airways. Without mom and dad, alone on the plane – for weeks I was excited before the big day came: my mother took me to the security check and then a nice lady, a stewardess, picked me up. She took me to my seat on the plane. I was totally fascinated – and the even though the flight wasn’t even an hour long. At that time, many men were sitting next to me in suits – a pure aviator with business people and me as a little girl in the middle. After the flight, the stewardess took me to the arrival terminal so I wouldn’t get lost. She was my escort service for this flight. That was 18 years ago.

Today children are allowed to travel unaccompanied on most German airlines from the age of 12. From this age, a paid escort service is also not necessary, explains Claudia Nolte from the Federal Association of the German Aviation Industry (BDL). "As a rule, children between the ages of 5 and 12 must use this service if they fly alone." The service is only recommended to children and adolescents between 12 and 18. The airlines themselves determine who can fly at what age and under what conditions. According to information from the BDL, low-cost airlines in particular often do not offer an escort service at all. The regulations of the German airlines at a glance:

Lufthansa: Children between 5 and 11 years old are only allowed to fly alone if they use the airline’s childcare service or travel with a person who is at least 12 years old. At the parents’ request, young people between the ages of 12 and 17 are also looked after.

Air Berlin: The same rules apply: Between 5 and 11 years the so-called UM service (Unaccompanied Minor) is mandatory. It can be booked for children aged 12 and over.

Condor: If the child is 5 years old or younger, a parent, a sibling aged 16 or over, or another person over 18 must be present. Between 6 and 11 years of age, unaccompanied passengers can only fly with a support service. Between 12 and 18, this can also be used at the parents’ request.

Tuifly: Children up to the age of 12 may only fly if accompanied by a person of at least 16 years if they take responsibility for the child. A childcare service is offered between the ages of 5 and 12 if there is no accompanying person.

Different rules may apply to foreign airlines. And in any case, teenagers should check, with which Documents you are allowed to enter the target country as a minor. Then nothing stands in the way of an adventurous journey.

Without parents – off to the plane: when children fly alone

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