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Mangaluru: Minors travelling via flights, about parental consent

Mangaluru International Airport
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Mangaluru: A Child Travel Consent or a Parent Consent Form allows a minor to travel via flight. It is mostly required when a minor need to travel alone or with an adult who isn’t their legal guardian (only one parent/guardian, friends, relatives or a group). The consent can be used both for domestic as well as international flights.

Although it is still legal for children under the age of 16 to travel alone, there are usually certain requirements that must be met. Not all airlines will allow unaccompanied children under the age of 14 to fly with them. It should be noted that the age requirements and restrictions policies of different airline companies will vary.

Basically, there are three categories, in which children below 5 years falls under one category, 5 to 14 in second category and 15 to 17 in third category. The ones above age 10 are considered adults.

However, those in the first two categories who are under the age of 15 are not permitted to travel alone is some flights either domestically or internationally without the necessary paperwork, such as a Parent Consent Form or a Child Travel Consent Form that has been properly filled out and notarised by authorised personnel for legal purposes.

When a child or infant is travelling alone or with another adult and not their parents, keep some of the following things in mind;

The child needs to have a letter of consent (or an affidavit with no objections) signed by both parents and copies of the relevant pages from each parent’s passport. Everyone with the legal authority to make choices on the child’s behalf should sign the Child Travel Consent before domestic travel.

The destination country will very certainly also need the signatures of the child’s legal guardians upon arrival when travelling internationally. All parents must sign the document, even if only one of them will be travelling with the child.

The check-in supervisor should see the original passport to confirm the legitimacy of the signature. The officials might even ask more documents for verification.

When one of the parents has passed away, a copy of the death certificate should be provided. When a child’s family name differs from that of their parents, birth certificate must be made available. Also, if one fails to get a signature, they will probably need to present border officials with proof that why both parents were unable to sign the document.

It is advisable to verify the age restrictions or policies for children on each flight who are not travelling with their parents before boarding. Confirm whether a consent form is required in a particular airline for a hassle-free journey.

Recently, one of the passengers, who travelled along with his grandson who is 3-year-old, from Abu Dhabi claimed that he was asked to show a consent letter from his parents at the Mangaluru International Airport (MIA). The airport authorities clarified that the verification should have been done before boarding from Abu Dhabi. The passenger then provided the officials with the consent letter that had been sent via WhatsApp.

According to reliable sources, “They are known as unaccompanied minors, and if the child is flying alone, they need to have a consent letter from parents or guardians. The consent is not required as long as the child is travelling with an adult. The consent must be verified before they board, not at their final destination.”

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Reshma B.

Reshma Babu, a young Postgraduate in Mass Communication and Journalism from St. Aloysius College, Mangalore University, utilises her considerable learned journalistic knowledge and inherent story writing and sub-editing abilities to add value to the company’s media brands and the editorial team. All dimensions of human interaction are her prime focus.

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