What is the British Airways policy for unaccompanied children?

What are the British Airways rules for unaccompanied children flying with the airline?

Two years ago, we almost came a cropper when we sent our 15 year old to a summer camp in Switzerland.

And if we can get caught out ….

First, a bit of background. Back in 2018 British Airways raised the minimum age for a child travelling alone from 12 to 14.

The ‘Skyflyer’ service which allocated chaperones to unaccompanied minors was scrapped by British Airways in 2016 as a cost cutting measure.

The problem from 2016 was that children aged 12+, who were still allowed to travel on their own, were struggling to cope without any adult oversight. The 2018 change raised the minimum age to 14 and this seems to have worked OK.

What do you need to do?

Any child aged 14 or 15 and travelling alone MUST bring a completed parent / guardian consent form and a copy of the parental passport with them to the airport.

You can download the consent form on this page of ba.com.

The child cannot check-in online and must use a manned desk, with the parent / guardian present. You are recommended to check-in two hours before departure.

The child will need to show:

• A payment method for any expenses
• A mobile phone which is fully charged, with sufficient credit and international roaming activated for foreign travel

It is important to note that none of this is flagged online at the time of booking.

ba.com says (emphasis mine):

Young persons aged 14 or 15 years old travelling alone will be booked to travel as an adult. To book their ticket, please contact us as you’re unable to book this online.

This is not true. I had no problem booking for my daughter at ba.com, and as her BAEC number was in the booking British Airways knew exactly how old she was. There is also no warning given during online check-in – it doesn’t work for 14- and 15-year old passengers who are unaccompanied but you are not told why. Most people will assume it is just general BA IT issues.

I won’t go through the problems we had, given that my wife turned up at Heathrow with our daughter but without her own passport or a consent form. We did get away with it thanks to the Terminal 5 check-in team but it was a close call.

Full details of the rules for unaccompanied minors are on this page of ba.com.

In another article we take a look at the rules for unaccompanied children on Virgin Atlantic.

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