Families with children

Children on board

• If your child is under 2 years, he or she must sit on an adult’s lap wearing a separate safety belt, or in a child restraint device fastened to the aircraft seat – this is especially important during take-off, landing and periods of irregularity (for example, those caused by turbulence).
• An adult can have only one infant sitting on his or her lap.
• If your child is over 2 years, you must reserve a seat for him or her. Your child must sit in his or her seat wearing a standard safety belt during take-off, landing and periods of irregularity (for example, those caused by turbulence). This also applies if your child turns 2 years of age during the flight.

Check-in

There is a dedicated check-in desk at Helsinki Airport for passengers needing assistance. The desk is labelled ”Special Passengers” and is also marked with the corresponding international symbols.

Children's pushchairs

Children's pushchairs are generally carried in the hold of the aircraft, along with all other checked baggage.

Some airports will allow you to take a light, small-wheeled umbrella-style folding pushchair to the departure gate, if necessary. At the departure gate, you must hand over your pushchair to the ground personnel, who will place it in the hold of the aircraft – normally, we do not carry pushchairs in the cabin, as storage space is limited. It is important that you arrive at the departure gate well in advance, so that there is sufficient time to load your pushchair into the hold. At some airports, you can borrow a pushchair which you can use to take your child all the way to the departure gate.

If you hand over your pushchair at the gate, every reasonable effort will be made to return that chair to you when you exit the aircraft at your destination. Unfortunately, this is not possible at certain international airports because of security restrictions – at these airports, you can collect your pushchair from the conveyor belt in the baggage claim area.

Infant seats and infant car seats

If your child is under 2 years and you have reserved them a seat on the plane, he or she may travel with an age-appropriate infant seat or infant car seat.

You must obtain confirmation from Finnair before bringing an infant seat on board. You must present the seat’s usage instructions when you board the aircraft, so that we can check its safety certification labelling. We cannot, however, guarantee that your infant seat will be compatible with the aircraft seat you have reserved for your child – if your infant seat does not fit into the aircraft seat or it cannot be safely secured, we will place it in an overhead locker or the hold of the aircraft.

Infant seats must be equipped with a three or five-point harness and will be fastened to the aircraft seat facing backward. Infant car seats must be equipped with a five-point harness and will be fastened to the aircraft seat facing forward.

Your infant seat or infant car seat must be a certified child restraint device – it must be approved for transport use in one of the following ways:

• The seat is approved for use in aircraft by a JAA authority, the Federal Aviation Administration or Transport Canada (on the basis of a national technical standard), and is marked accordingly.
• The seat is approved for use in motor vehicles according to UN standard ECE R44.03 or later series amendments.
• The seat is approved for use in motor vehicles and aircraft according to Canadian standard CMVSS 213/213.1.
• The seat is approved for use in motor vehicles and aircraft according to US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 213, and manufactured according to this standard after 25 February 1985. US-approved child restraint devices manufactured after this date must bear the following labels in red lettering: (1) “This child restraint system conforms to all applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards”; and (2) “This restraint is certified for use in motor vehicles and aircraft”.
• The seat is approved for use in aircraft according to the German “Qualification procedure for child restraint systems for use in aircraft” (TÜV Doc.: TÜV/958-01/2001).

Note that most infant seats sold in Finland comply with UN standards and their usage instructions usually contain the following text: "Approved according to the ECE R44.03 -standard".

Baby baskets

You can reserve a baby basket if you are travelling on an intercontinental scheduled flight or a leisure flight (AY1000 series). As baby basket places in the cabin are limited, we recommended that you reserve your basket when you book your flights tickets, either through the Finnair office or your travel agency.

You must pay for a first-row seat in order to use a baby basket. You can reserve your seat online via the Select Your Seat service on our website. If you’re travelling on a Finnair leisure flight (AY1000 series), you can reserve your seats online via the Leisure flights supplementary services.

If your child is under 2 years, he or she must sit on an adult’s lap wearing a separate safety belt, or in a child restraint device fastened to the aircraft seat – this is especially important during take-off, landing and periods of irregularity (for example, those caused by turbulence).

The inside length of our baby baskets is 70 cm. The infant using the basket may not weigh more than 11 kg (24 lb). Baby basket is recommended for infants not older than 6 months.

If you are travelling with an infant or young child, please go to the departure gate in good time for boarding, so that you can be among the first passengers to get on the plane.

Children's meals

You can order a meal suitable for children of 2 years and above when you book your flight tickets. Our children’s meals are available in Business Class and Economy Class on all our intercontinental scheduled flights. Our standard Economy Class meals are also suitable for children. For leisure flights (AY1000 series) children’s meals can be ordered through the Leisure flights supplementary services.

We keep a few jars of baby food in reserve on all intercontinental scheduled flights, but please remember that availability is limited.

Entertainment for children

We distribute toys and other entertainment items to children at the beginning of the flight. All these items are child safe, of high quality and suitable for use on board. The entertainment materials your child will receive vary depending on the duration of the flight and the age of your child.

We ensure that all films shown on our leisure flights are suitable for families and children. Our film selection changes three times a year. We also show children’s cartoons.