What airlines require when children fly in a school group

Can children fly in a school group without their parents?

Yes, if they are accompanied by responsible adults who meet the airline's rules. On a school trip the teachers and other staff take that role. What the airline cares about is that each child is travelling with a qualifying adult on the same booking, not that the adult is a parent.

Airlines draw the line at different ages. easyJet's help pages say children aged 15 and under cannot fly without an adult aged 16 or over and that it offers no escort service for unaccompanied children. Other carriers set different limits, and Ryanair's rules on the minimum age of the accompanying adult have been reported as changing. Always check the carrier's current terms rather than relying on a general summary.

How many adults does an airline require for a school group?

Some airlines set a ratio in their group terms, and others leave it to the booking conditions. Examples of what the carriers publish:

Where do children sit on the plane?

The CAA reported in 2018 that airlines should take proactive steps to seat those travelling with children, in particular children under 12, together with their accompanying adults, citing EASA guidance, and that consumers should be told before being offered paid seats. That is regulator guidance, not a guarantee of specific seat numbers, and group bookings often allocate seats at check-in. Our guide to seat allocation for school groups goes into the detail.

• Ask the airline's groups desk how seats are allocated and whether children under 12 will be placed next to staff.
• Spread staff through the cabin so children are never far from an adult.
• Check whether pre-selecting seats costs extra, and whether paying guarantees you sit together.

What paperwork do pupils need?

Airlines need passport details for each child before check-in, and border staff can ask questions when a child is travelling with an adult who is not their parent. GOV.UK says a letter from a person with parental responsibility is usually enough to show a child has permission to travel abroad, and that it may be requested at a UK or foreign border. It does not say whether schools need one, so confirm with your school or organisation's own policy.

• Valid passports for every pupil, checked against the destination's rules. See the passport and visa checklist.
• Parental consent letters that name the trip, dates and the responsible adults, with contact details for the parent.
• Entry authorisations where required. Our EES and ETIAS guide covers the current European position.
• Medical and dietary information held by the trip leader, with any medication carried by staff or the pupil as your policy requires.
• Emergency contacts for every child, available offline. Our emergency contacts tool can help.

What should you confirm with the airline before booking?

1. The minimum age of accompanying adults and any adult-to-child ratio for group bookings.
2. How infants and children under 12 are counted in group size and seat allocation.
3. Whether 16 and 17 year olds count as adults on the booking, and how that interacts with your school's own supervision rules.
4. How the group boards and checks in, and whether a staff member can check in the whole group.
5. What happens if a member of staff cannot travel, and whether names can be changed. See changing names on a group booking.

How Roamly can help

Roamly Travel books group flights for schools and universities, checks each airline's rules on children and supervision with the groups team, and supports risk assessments for school trips. See our group flights service, use the travel risk assessment tool, or contact us with your group's ages and numbers.