Summary Emirates has a comprehensive system for unaccompanied minors, providing personalized care from start to finish. Children flying alone receive special attention, including access to WiFi, games, and movies, along with personalized birthday services. Emirates ensures seamless travel for young passengers, offering a smooth journey from check-in to arrival while prioritizing their safety and comfort.
Most of us have been on a plane and seen a flight attendant paying particular attention to a young child or an anxious-looking parent/adult waiting at the gate as the child is escorted off the aircraft into their arms. If you have ever wondered how the system worked or might be about to use it, here is some food for thought. It's a system from end to end This week, Emirates said it had carried more than 120,000 unaccompanied minors and young passengers over the last five years and will carry more than 900 more in the coming week.
Now is one of the busiest times for the service as many children return to Dubai from summer holidays abroad in time for the new school year. Most are 11 years or younger, and the service is mostly used by families from the UK, India, the US, the Philippines and France. Getting into a luxurious lounge at Dubai International Airport (DXB) can be tricky, but unaccompanied children have probably the most exclusive lounge of all - after all, you have to be quite young to get in.
When parents and guardians bring their children to Dubai Airport, they can go straight to the Unaccompanied Minors Lounge, a fully supervised area with children's bathrooms near the check-in area. A specialist member of the Emirates team meets the child at the check-in desk, and the process is quickly completed. After that, the child can relax with video games and free WiFi and enjoy snacks and drinks while they wait for their flight.
The specialist looks after their documents and guides them through security, immigration and priority boarding before introducing them to the crew at the aircraft door. On the flight The cabin crew settles the child into their requested seat and regularly checks in to ensure they are enjoying their trip or need any support. The young fliers have access to free WiFi, complimentary toys and giveaways, more than 100 video games and a vast array of children's content, including new release movies, Disney classics, Marvel Studios and Star Wars collections and the complete collection of Harry Potter movies.
If it's the child's birthday, a cake can be ordered 48 hours in advance, and the cabin crew will celebrate the special occasion. They will also take Polaroid photos to hand out as keepsakes of the happy times on the aircraft. Before the flight, parents can request any special dietary needs and advise whether the child wants a window or aisle seat or siblings seated together.
Emirates aims to support early education in Africa and Asia. When the flight lands, the child will be met at the aircraft door by a specialist member of the Emirates team and accompanied through the airport until they meet their parent or guardian at arrivals, where proof of identification must be provided to Emirates by the person collecting the child. We'd love to see you on Instagram - follow us here ! Children aged 12-15 can fly alone at their parents' discretion, however if they would like additional support, they can request to use the service.
Emirates also has a comprehensive package for unaccompanied minors or young children connecting to another Emirates flight at Dubai Airport. Children on a connecting flight will be taken to the Unaccompanied Minors Lounge to rest and wait before being taken to their flight and handed over to the cabin crew as before. The maximum time allowed for a connection is eight hours, and anything longer than that needs to be approved by Emirates.
Anyone needing to book an unaccompanied minor or young child could certainly be confident about the package Emirates has developed. If nothing else, it is an excellent benchmark for what best practice in this area looks like..
