Flying with a Child: Questions and Answers

From What Age Can Children Fly

There are no age restrictions for children on flights; you can safely take children under one year old and infants on board. However, many airlines do not take children under seven days old on board for medical reasons, unless it's an emergency.

Typically, children without any health issues tolerate flights well, except for some discomfort and ear congestion. But adults should prepare children for this, especially if it's their first flight and they're scared. You should explain that flying is safe and very interesting, and under no circumstances show any hint of fear or panic yourself, otherwise they'll sense it and be scared too. Overcoming the fear of flying later will be much more difficult.

How Much Do Child Air Tickets Cost

All airlines worldwide divide children into the following categories:

• Children under 2 years of age (inclusive)
• Children from 3 years (inclusive) to 12 years (inclusive).

Children under 2 years old on domestic flights can fly completely free if they do not occupy a separate seat. If it's an international flight, a significant discount is provided depending on the airline, usually 90% of the adult ticket price.

For children from 3 to 12 years old, the ticket price is usually 50-70% of the adult fare.

For children over 12 years old, no discounts are provided; the ticket is paid as an adult fare.

Children Flying Without Adult Supervision

Sometimes situations arise when it's necessary to send a child on a flight alone, i.e., without parental supervision. This is possible, and such a procedure is provided by airlines, and it's free. More precisely, conditionally free, since you won't have to pay anything extra, but you will have to pay for the ticket as an adult.

To send a child alone, you'll have to buy the ticket at the airline's office, as it's impossible to do it online (see below for how to purchase a plane ticket for a child). Once the ticket is purchased, one of the parents or guardians must hand over the child at the airport to airline staff along with all the documents. Most airports even have special waiting rooms for children with games and entertainment. On board, children are also provided with meals and gifts.

Upon arrival, the child is handed over to the receiving party, i.e., another parent or guardian. The person on the receiving end is determined in advance when purchasing the ticket and cannot be changed.

What Documents Are Needed for Children to Fly

For domestic flights within Russia, children don't need any special documents besides proof of identity; boarding is done using a birth certificate or passport if available. The common misconception that a permit from the other parent is required for domestic flights is completely wrong.

If you're planning an international flight, children must have a new-style international passport, or children can be entered into an old-style international passport if you have one. A new-style international passport is required even for the youngest infants.

But there's one more condition: if the child is traveling with relatives or guardians, a notarized power of attorney from the parents is required. And no amount of persuasion will help; the child simply won't be allowed out of Russia. The power of attorney is very easy to obtain from any notary; you'll need to pay a fee of from 1,200 rubles.

Also, don't forget that you may not be allowed to leave the country if you have unpaid debts. You can check whether you have a travel ban due to debt on the websites fssp.gov.ru and Gosuslugi.ru.

How to Buy a Plane Ticket for a Child

Buying tickets for a whole family including children and adults is not difficult. But buying a separate ticket for a child online, whether through an airline website or a flight search engine, is practically impossible. And there's a logical explanation for this. Airlines are not willing to take responsibility for transporting a child without adult supervision without properly executed documents. Therefore, such tickets are not sold remotely online. But this issue can be resolved:

• If You Need to Buy a Ticket for a Child in Addition to Previously Purchased Tickets for Adults

  If your plans have changed and children unexpectedly join the adult travelers, tickets can be purchased, including paying for them online. But you won't be able to do it the classic way on a search engine or airline website.

  For this, you'll need to contact the seller of the tickets, whoever you bought the flight tickets from, or directly contact the airline. This is done via the support phone number or through contact forms on the website. They'll specially issue tickets for you and attach them to the previously purchased adult tickets, and you can pay for them online via a sent link or in another way, but this depends on the specific seller or airline. Please note that the seller is not flight search sites like Aviasales, for example, but the sites where you actually issue or pay for tickets after being redirected from search engines.

• If You Need to Buy a Ticket for a Child Flying Without an Adult

  The procedure for a child flying without adult supervision is provided by airlines. Airlines accept the child from the sending party, accompany them, and hand them over to the receiving party, but all necessary data must be documented, including information about the receiving party. Most often, such a ticket will be paid as an adult fare, i.e., at full price without a discount.

  It's impossible to buy such tickets online; you'll have to visit the airline's office and complete the necessary documents there. You can find the addresses of airline offices on their websites. First, you can search for flight tickets through a classic search engine to find the most convenient option and best prices, and identify the airline. Then go to the airline's website and look for office addresses there.

  The ticket can be purchased either by the receiving party (i.e., the parent or guardian the child is flying to) or the sending party. At the office, you'll need to bring the original passport of the ticket purchaser, and originals or copies (depending on what's available) of the child's birth certificate, and the passport of the receiving/sending party. When purchasing the ticket, a special document will be issued containing all the data of the sending and receiving parties, so that airline staff can be confident when boarding and transferring the child to the receiving party that they're handing over and receiving from the right people.