Improved Unaccompanied Minor Service by airBaltic

A very important aspect of air travel, which we are not exposing enough - unaccompanied minor travel. How good service is offered by airlines, what has to be improved, are there any issues to be more than careful about? Do you know what is Unaccompanied Minor, can he travel alone on the airplane, what services are offered in this special case? Let's have a look at the definition - the term is frequently used in airline policies ‘UM’ is a child who is travelling alone without a parent, guardian or responsible adult. In many cases it refers to an airline passenger of 5 to 14 years old. Attention! There is not a single clear definition that is agreed upon by all airlines!  UMS service depends in fact of each airline rules and regulations - some do not allow minors to travel without an adult; some allow only by purchasing UMS; some allow unrestricted travel between certain ages.

Latvian airline airBaltic has significantly improved its unaccompanied minor service, dedicated for children between the ages of 5 and 17 travelling alone. From now on, parents or guardians will have to accompany their minor until the boarding gate instead of waiting flight departure in public area.

The service ensures that the child is under the supervision of the airline from boarding until the child has met his parent or guardian upon arrival at the destination.

Laura Vecvanaga-Puķīte, SVP Ground Operations and Customer Care of airBaltic: “Each year we have over 1000 passengers traveling as unaccompanied minor. The service is becoming more popular, and we wished to improve it further. Together with Riga International Airport we were able to execute changes in procedures, therefore now parents or guardians will have the opportunity to spend longer time with their children travelling alone, taking children up to boarding gate.”

The airBaltic unaccompanied minor service is available for children age 5 and over, if the legislation of the child’s country of residence permits it. For children 5-11 years of age this service is mandatory, but for children 12-17 years of age, the service is optional if requested by their parents or guardians.

Parent or guardian must hold a valid passport or ID card. Single entry pass to accompany child will be provided to parent or guardian at the check-in desk. Please note that as before parent or guardian must remain at the airport until the flight has departed. At the final destination, the parent or guardian must show up on time for the arrival of the flight.

The unaccompanied minor service must be arranged and paid for in advance at airBaltic ticket offices or via the online payment form as prior confirmation is required. Up to of five children using the unaccompanied minor service are accepted on each flight. 

airBalticserves over 70 destinations from Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius, offering the largest variety of destinations and convenient connections via Riga to its network spanning Europe, Scandinavia, the CIS and the Middle East. In summer season 2019,airBaltichas launched new destinations from Riga to Dublin, Stuttgart and Lviv as well as to Kos and Menorca.