Unaccompanied minor travel to UK summer schools
At Discovery Summer we’re often asked for advice about Unaccompanied Minor travel to our UK summer schools. Choosing a summer camp is difficult enough and then you have to work out how your child will get there! So we’ve put together this quick guide to help parents decide the best way for their child to travel to the UK.
What are the benefits of my child travelling alone?
Many parents send their child to the UK to learn English and gain independence and all of this starts the minute they leave home.
A lot of our students travel on their own or with a sibling or friend – for many children the journey is almost as exciting as the summer course itself!
It’s great if a child can travel on their own so their parents don’t need to buy a second airline ticket or take time off work.
There are a number of airlines that will let children travel without an accompanying adult – some from the age of 5.
However, it’s important to know if there are any extra charges.
Which airlines offer Unaccompanied Minor travel to the UK and what does it mean?
The Unaccompanied Minor service (UM for short) generally means that you hand your child over to a member of staff from the airline after check in. You wave goodbye at security and the staff member takes them right to the gate to hand over to the cabin crew. Once on board they may sit in a special area for children travelling on their own. The cabin crew will check on them regularly to make sure they’ve got entertainment and know where the toilets are.
We’ve found 12 airlines that offer Unaccompanied Minor travel to the UK, although each of them have different age restrictions.
Air France offers Kids Solo on international flights for 5-17 year olds. This is mandatory so you’ll need to book and pay for it when you reserve your flight.
If you’re travelling from Italy, ITA (formerly Alitalia) offer their UM service for 5-14 year olds although older teens can be booked on to the Voluntary Unaccompanied Minor Service.
AirChina won’t let 5-11 year olds travel without the UM service. They also allow healthy teenagers aged 12-17 to use it plus 16-18 year olds with vision or hearing impairment or a long term illness.
What about airlines that don’t offer the Unaccompanied Minor service to the UK?
Vueling allows children aged 12 and over to travel on their own, whilst at British Airways and WhizzAir the minimum age is 14. Easyjet and Ryanair both let young people fly by themselves from 16. However, if your child is younger than that they can still travel without a parent as long as they’re with someone who’s over 16 (a big brother or sister perhaps).
Have a look at the table below for further information (correct as of 11 Feb 2025):
| Airline | Provides UM Service? | Information |
| EasyJet | No | Children 15 and under can’t travel unsupervised. Can only travel with someone 16 and older. 16 equates to an adult |
| RyanAir | No | We do not carry unaccompanied children under 16. We cannot provide an escort or special facilities |
| WizzAir | No | Over 14 years old can travel on their own. Cannot be responsible for children. 16+ can take full responsibility for children |
| Vueling | No | The Unaccompanied Minor service is not available on our flights. Minors under 12 years of age at the time of the flight must always travel with an adult |
| British Airways | No | Don’t provide a UM service. Under 14s cannot travel alone. 14+ must be booked as an adult passenger |
| EuroStar | Yes | Children aged 12 to 15 (inclusive) can travel on their own to some Eurostar destinations, as long as they’ve got a fully completed Eurostar unaccompanied minor form and only travel on trains departing between 06:00 and 17:00 local time. The form must be signed by their parent or legal guardian (or by a responsible adult given consent by the parent or legal guardian) at the station in the presence of a member of the Eurostar team. The child will need to keep this signed form with them throughout their journey and show it to the onboard team if they’re asked |
| Air France | Yes | On international flights operated by Air France, children between 5 to 14 years old travelling alone must be booked in as unaccompanied minors (UM). Air France staff will look after them and they will benefit from the Kids Solo service. 15 to 17 year olds can book a UM service, though this is not included in the ticket price. |
| FinnAir | Yes | 5-11 year olds must have UM service. The unaccompanied minor service is available on an optional basis for young travellers aged 12 to 17 years old who are travelling alone. |
| ITA Airways | Yes | 5 to 14 years of age for international destinations, who are travelling alone, or with a minor escort, or accompanied by an adult in a different travel class, an “Unaccompanied Minor” service is provided |
| LOT Airlines | Yes | 5-12 years: For children aged 5 to 12 travelling unaccompanied, we offer special assistance. Care is provided by a LOT Cabin Crew member, as well as passenger service ground staff designated at the airport. |
| Iberia | Yes | 5-11 years: mandatory. 12-17 years: optional |
| Aegean Airlines | Yes | UM service available for students aged 5-12 |
| Air China | Yes | Mandatory for 5-11 years. Can be requested for 12-17 years or 16-18 years if vision/hearing impairment or other long-term illness. Air China can accommodate up to five unaccompanied minors aged 5 to 7 years per flight. There is no limit on the number of unaccompanied minors aged 8 (including on their birthday) or older. |
| Thai Airways | Yes | UM service must for aged 5-11. Optional for aged 12-17 |
| TAP Air | Yes | UM service must for 5-12 years old |
| Lufthansa | Yes | UM service must for aged 5-11. Optional for aged 12-17 |
| Aeromexico | Yes | UM service must for aged 5-15 |
| Royal Dutch Airlines | Yes | UM service must for aged 5-14. Optional for 15-17 |
What about Eurostar?
If your child is taking the train from Paris, they can travel alone as long as they are aged 12 or over and have the correct paperwork. However, you can’t book standalone child tickets online, so contact Eurostar direct.
Compared to an airport, Eurostar stations are quite easy to navigate, so a teenager should find the process quite easy.
https://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/travel-info/travel-planning/travel-with-children
What happens when they reach the UK?
We’ll send you an airport guide to help your child navigate from the plane to arrivals. When they get to passport control the staff will ask to see their course confirmation letter, flight letter and proof that you allow them to travel alone. Don’t worry. We’ll send you all the documents they need. The border force agents may call us to check we’re expecting your child and to make sure someone’s at the airport to meet them.
Once they’ve collected their luggage and come through arrivals they’ll see one of our smiling representatives holding a colourful Discovery Summer sign with their name on it.
If they’re travelling as a UM, the airline staff will hand them over to us.
Depending on the day, your child may have to wait for a few more students to arrive before heading off to their summer centre. At quiet times we’ll arrange a taxi to take them to the summer school. On busier days, we’ll book a coach to transport them with a member of Discovery Summer staff on board.
Are airport transfers included in the course fees?
Unlike many summer schools we offer free airport transfers on published course arrival and departure days as long as your child’s flight is due to land between 09:00-16:00.
For students going to Benenden or Winchester we offer free transfers from London Heathrow or Gatwick. We also provide free travel from EuroStar St Pancras International for students arriving on particular trains. Those travelling to Shrewsbury have free transfers from London Heathrow, Manchester or Birmingham airports.
What happens on the return journey?
On departure day we offer free airport transfers to selected airports/Eurostar trains for flights and trains due to depart between 09:00-16:00. We’ll get them to the airport at least 2 or 3 hours before their flight is due to leave so there’s plenty of time to check-in and get through security.
If your child is an Unaccompanied Minor we’ll hand them over to the airline who will accompany them through security and deliver them to the cabin crew.
For students flying alone we’ll help them check in and wave goodbye as they go through to departures. Unfortunately our staff can’t go any further. Don’t worry – we remind them to go straight to the gate. We don’t want them to miss their flight!
We hope this guide has given you some practical tips and reassured you that whichever method of travel you choose we’ll look after your child from the minute they arrive at the airport until the minute they go through security at the end.
Please contact us if you have any questions.
Happy travels.