British Airways Unaccompanied Minor Policy

Unaccompanied Minors services for children are no longer available on British Airways. Children must be accompanied by an adult who is at least 16 years old when travelling alone under the British Airways unaccompanied minor policy.

Before travelling, under-16 passengers must have an unaccompanied minor consent form filled out by the parent/guardian. Reservations for minors under the age of 16 travelling alone cannot be booked online; instead, you must contact the British Airways customer service to complete the request. 

In this post, we will understand all the guidelines applicable for the unaccompanied minor, the ID and other documents required at the time of the travel, the airline’s service fee applies in various regions, and much more.

Guidelines for British Airways Minor Travelling Alone

As per the British Airways unaccompanied minor policy, children, or young flyers travelling alone, will be treated as adults and must be able to navigate through the arrival and departure airports and board their flight without assistance. In addition – 

• It is strongly advised that the parent or adult guardian must remain at the airport terminal until your child’s flight departs.
• A person may fly alone on the British Airways operated flights if they are 14 years or older. The exception applies to flights operated by SUN-AIR of Scandinavia and Comair.
• Fliers less than 14 years old must be accompanied by an adult at least 16 years of age.
• Any young flyer under the 16 years of age must submit the unaccompanied minor form and parents/guardian consent form.
• This document must also include a copy of the parent’s or guardian’s current passport or any other valid photo ID.
• Bookings for BA unaccompanied minors who are under 16 years of age cannot be made on the airline’s website. Please contact British Airways customer service number. 
• For European flights, the child must be escorted to check-in at least 60 minutes before departure, and for international mid haul flights, at least 90 minutes before departure.

British Airways Unaccompanied Minor Age

As per the British Airways minor policy, only SUN-AIR operated flights allow children between 5 and 11 years to travel without a parent or legal guardian. In addition – 

• Children who are 14 years or older can travel alone on the BA operated flights only.
• Children below 14 years of age must be accompanied by an adult.
• Booking for passengers below 16 years of age cannot be made online.
• Codeshare airline’s age restrictions, fees, and rules may differ, so you’ll have to check directly with the airlines.

ID Requirements for Unaccompanied Minor

As per the British Airways unaccompanied minor policy, parents/guardians must ensure that the young child must carry the following documents  at the time of travel – 

• Valid passport or birth certificate.
• Visa and/or proof of return.
• An attested BA unaccompanied minor form.
• Parents consent from.
• A signed copy of parent/guardian passport or any other valid photo ID. 
• Any required medication or health declaration
• Ability to contact their parent/guardian and/or the person who will pick them up at the destination.

Note – If a minor passenger is travelling alone, they will be booked as an adult and will be navigating through departure, arrival airports, and boarding their flight(s) without any assistance of staff. British Airways is unable to take responsibility for a child travelling alone.

British Airways Unaccompanied Minor Form

For each direction of a travel, the British Airways minors form must be completed, including all code sharing details for transferring to following flights.

The consent form must be completed and must be self-attested by the parent/guardian, prior to handling the child to the BA. The following information must be provided – 

• Child’s first and last name as per the passport or birth certificate.
• Age
• Sex of a child
• Language known
• Any allergies, special needs or medical condition
• Details mentioned on the travel itinerary. 
• Whether child is a flying alone for the first time
• Full details of the person who would be dropping off and picking up at both airports.

The unaccompanied minor service applied to the flights operated and marketed by the BA only. 

As per the British Airways unaccompanied minor policy, the minor travel service is not permitted on the following itineraries – 

• A red-eye flights
• Any connecting flight that has an overnight layover.
• A connection between airports within the same city. (For instance, transfer from London Heathrow to London Gatwick.
• Standby basis.
• Connecting flights booked on separate tickets.

While booking the flight with airline’s executive, you need to provide the following information to the airlines – 

• Age and date of birth of the unaccompanied minor
• If not English, what languages are spoken?
• Any medical or health condition
• Name, address, and phone number of the parent or guardian who will be taking the child to the departure airport. This person is required to stay at the airport until the child is airborne.
• Parent or guardian’s full name, residence, and phone number who would be greeting the child at the arrival airport 
• A copy of passport or any other valid ID of the person who would be collecting the minor.

Fees for Unaccompanied Minor

As per the BA unaccompanied minors policy, in addition to the airfare there are following applicable unaccompanied minor fee for BA operated flight per direction of travel – 

• Flights within UK and Europe – 50 USD per passengers per direction
• Flights to and from Russia, Middle East, Africa, and Saudi Arabia – 100 USD per passenger per direction. 

At the time of booking, 

• The passenger needs to provide the information of Escort of Departure and Escort of Arrival.
• Each successive minors on the same booking will be charged 20 USD per minor per direction if more than one unaccompanied minor is travelling on the same flights under the same booking reference.
• Young Passengers are adults between the ages of 12 and 15. For these travelers, the unaccompanied minor fee of British Airways has the same supervision charges.
• At the time of booking, the British Airways unaccompanied minors service must be requested and paid in full.
• This service is only available through the British Airways booking ad and cannot be booked online .
• You can book the unaccompanied minor service up to 24 hours before the scheduled departure. Any minor travel unaccompanied request would be accepted by the BA on the sole discretionary basis. 

Unfortunately, British Airways does not offer an unaccompanied minor service to assist young children to navigate at the airport. 

Consequently, the airline does not allow any children under the age of 14 to fly alone.

This means you should take extra efforts to ensure that your child is competent enough to manage travel and that you take all required measures to ensure that you can connect with them throughout the trip.

FAQs – British Airways Minor Policy