Child travelling unaccompanied

Check the rules for children travelling without an accompanying adult. Find out the minimum age for solo travel, which documents are required, and how our staff provide care and assistance at the airport and on board, step by step.

Steward taking care of a traveling child on its own in a Dreamliner

Traveling by air depending on your child’s age

Children under 5 years old: must travel with a person who is at least 16 years old.
Children aged 5 to 12: may travel alone only with a dedicated assistance service provided by LOT Polish Airlines cabin crew and passenger service agents responsible for ground handling.
Children aged 12 to 16: may travel independently or, at a parent’s request, use the assistance service. In the event of a flight delay or cancellation, your child can ask LOT Polish Airlines staff for assistance.
Children under 16 traveling alone are not permitted to transport animals.

How does the assistance service work?

You can arrange the assistance service when purchasing a ticket through the LOT Polish Airlines Contact Center or at our Sales Offices. The service is available exclusively on flights operated directly by LOT Polish Airlines. Please note that check-in for flights with the assistance service can only be completed at the airport.

Step 1: Documents

Print and complete the “Request for Carriage” form. You will need to hand the completed form to our staff during check-in and baggage drop-off.

Request for Carriage form

PDF (1 MB)

Step 2: Check-in at the airport

At Warsaw Chopin Airport, please proceed to the dedicated Family Check-in counter. Arrive at least 60 minutes before an international flight or 30 minutes before a domestic flight, and bring the completed form with you. Your child will also receive a special travel document pouch to wear around their neck, as well as a baggage tag.

Step 3: Security screening and boarding

A member of our staff will accompany your child through the Fast Track security screening lane and help them board the aircraft before other passengers.

Step 4: Care on board and during connections

Our cabin crew will look after your child’s comfort and well-being throughout the flight. If the journey includes a same-day connection, a member of our staff will take care of your child at the transit airport between flights.

Please note that we do not provide supervision during overnight layovers. Such journeys are only possible if you arrange for an adult to meet your child at the connecting airport, care for them during the stopover, and accompany them to their next flight.

Step 5: Picking up a child after landing

After landing, a member of our ground staff will meet your child at the aircraft, assist them with collecting their baggage, and escort them to the arrivals area, where they will be handed over to the adult designated in the form.

Important: The parent or guardian accompanying the child to the airport must remain there until the aircraft has departed.

Cost of the assistance service

An additional fee for the special assistance and escort service will be added to the price of the ticket. It is billed per route (for each flight, e.g. Krakow–Warsaw and Warsaw–New York) and per child (even if siblings are traveling together). You can find more information through our LOT Contact Center.

Special assistance fees based on your destination

Domestic fligts (Poland)
290 PLN/70 EUR/75 USD + VAT
Europe and Middle East
390 PLN/95 EUR/105 USD
North America and Asia
590 PLN/135 EUR/145 USD/185 CAD/20 000 JPY/200 000 KRW/56 000 HUF

Rules for unaccompanied minor service in selected countries

Children under 14 travelling unaccompanied must present a declaration signed by both parents, which may be obtained from any police station in Italy.
Minors travelling unaccompanied must have a valid travel document. Additionally, if they are travelling with an identification card and not a passport, they must have written permission signed by their parents or by their biological parent or person who holds parental rights. The permission must be certified at any police or Guardia Civil station, in court, by a notary or a city council after presenting the family book or birth certificate. The permission form can be found on the Guardia Civil website.

Minors from EU countries (in this case 27 Member States + Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) and those entering Spain with a personal identification (instead of a passport) also need written parental permission.
Children and youth under 18 may travel unaccompanied only with the permission of parents or guardians, who must fill out the AUTHORISATION TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY document.
Authorisation to leave the country document
Travel from France
DOCX (30 KB)
Please be advised that the procedures differ slightly from other airports, namely:

Berlin, Stuttgart, Hamburg – the child is accompanied from the check-in counter to the gate by a parent or guardian.

Düsseldorf – the child is accompanied from the check-in counter to the gate by a parent or guardian, or, in the event the parent or guardian is unwilling, the child is accompanied by a member of passenger service staff, after the check-in counter is closed.

Munich, Frankfurt – the airports have check-in counters for children travelling unaccompanied and a passenger service agent is responsible for providing full service. A parent or guardian may be asked to accompany the child to the gate.

Vienna – the child is accompanied from the check-in counter to the gate by a parent or guardian, or by a passenger service staff member (in some cases only after the check-in counter is closed).

The parent or guardian must remain at the airport until take-off.
The service is not available for children who are citizens of the Republic of Moldova.
Children with Georgian citizenship must have a special certificate signed by a notary. Read more about this (opens in a new tab).

Children under 5 years old

Children aged 8 days to 5 years may travel unaccompanied only with a qualified escort. The assigned cabin crew member accompanies your child from the baggage and ticket check-in until the child is picked up by a designated adult at the destination airport. If you wish to use the escort service, you will have to cover the cost of the flight attendant’s ticket.