Unaccompanied Minors on planes: at what age can small travelers take a plane alone from Doha Hamad airport?

There are times when you need to send your minor child to another city or overseas by plane alone. In this case, you can’t do without an escort service, offered by the airline operating the flight. The main thing is to be well prepared so that everything goes without unnecessary worries.

Preparation consists first of all in studying the rules for the transport of unaccompanied children in the selected airline, since each of them may have its own characteristics: conditions, list of mandatory documents, prices, minimum age from which a child can be sent alone on an airplane.

Children between the ages of 5 and 12, if required, may travel unaccompanied by their parents or guardians when departing from Doha-Hamad International Airport.

If a child flies unaccompanied by an adult, they may be accompanied by a member of the aircraft crew. Specify the conditions of availability of the escort in the representative office of your carrier.

Book the escort service for your child at the airport and during the flight in advance

To make unaccompanied children over 12 years old travel alone to the Qatari airport, you can book the escort service for underage passengers 48 hours before the flight departure time.

How to book the accompanying service for a child on a Qatar Airways plane?

This can be done when booking and purchasing airline tickets at the ticket office, at the airline counter at the airport, at specialized agencies. Sometimes this can be done over the phone. You cannot buy a ticket only for a child through online sales systems, even if it is purchased in addition to the tickets previously purchased for parents.

A prerequisite for the reservation when transporting a child unaccompanied by his parents is the coordination of the service with the air carrier. In this case, you should check with the information service of the company whether it has such a service, what are the conditions of transport, whether there are free seats, how to buy a ticket for the selected flight. Without a confirmed request for seat availability on the desired flight, the flight may not take place due to denied transport.

The airline takes full responsibility for the safety of your child during their unaccompanied journey, from the time the child is handed over by the accompanying staff in the departures hall until the time the child is delivered to the airport.

When registering an accompaniment service, the attendant must complete a questionnaire and a declaration of commitment, in which he guarantees the timely delivery of the child to the airport, his reception at the arrival, the transfer of competence to take care of him in the company if the person who meets him does not show up at his destination, as well as the reimbursement of costs caused by unforeseen circumstances.

If a minor passenger is traveling alone on a flight arriving at Doha Hamad Airport:

– Upon arrival at the airport in the capital of Qatar, a crew member (usually a senior flight attendant) will hand the child over to an airport staff member, who in turn will assist in the baggage claim and other customs formalities, if necessary. The child will then be handed over to a pending adult guardian who, in turn, will need to write an appropriate receipt.

– On Qatar Airways flights, more than four children traveling alone cannot be carried on board. The number of seats may be reduced if the same flight is carried by a disabled passenger or an unaccompanied disabled child requiring more attention from flight attendants.

– In addition, the necessary information is provided on the child (his age is fixed on the start date of the trip indicated on the ticket), on the people who accompany and meet people (addresses, telephone numbers).

What is important to pay attention to:

– The accompanying child service must be ordered at the ticket reservation stage no later than 48 hours to 72 hours before flight departure.

– It can be used if all sections of the transport route have a confirmed reservation.

– The accompaniment of a child during the flight is mainly provided on direct flights, in the absence of transfers, transfers from one airport to another, transits linked to the passage of border formalities.

– Sometimes Qatar Airways may allow a child to travel on multiple flights, but on condition that it is a single transfer from a domestic flight to a domestic flight or from an international flight to an international flight, which are operated by the same carrier.

– It is advised that the child speaks the same language as the staff of the Qatar Airways airline and the flight attendants.