Children

Infants

• An infant refers to a child under 2 years of age travelling without his or her own seat.
• If your child is under 2 years, he or she can sit on an adult’s lap wearing a separate safety belt, or in a child restraint device fastened to the aircraft seat.
• An adult can have one infant sitting on his or her lap.
• An infant also needs a flight ticket. If the child is not yet born, make the reservation for you and contact our customer service after the baby is born.
• If your child turns 2 years before the return flight, you must reserve a seat for him or her.

Children

• All passengers between 2 and 11 years of age are regarded as children.

Baggage

Regardless of travel class, an infant’s baggage allowance includes one piece of baggage weighing a maximum of 23 kg, as well as a folding pushchair or safety seat. Safety seats may be taken into the cabin, space and safety regulations permitting.

A child with his or her own seat has the same basic baggage allowance as an adult travelling in the same travel class. In addition, this allowance includes a folding pushchair or safety seat. Safety seats may be taken into the cabin, space and safety regulations permitting.

Travel documents for minors

Depending on your destination country, you are required to provide passports or other travel documents for any minors travelling with you.

In some countries, travel consent from parents or guardians is required for minors travelling alone or in the company of only one parent or guardian. Consent may be required either when leaving or entering the country. Some countries only require consent for underage nationals (their own citizens) leaving the country, whereas others monitor minors of any nationality coming into the country.

To find out whether the authorization of minors will be required on a particular journey, contact your travel agency or the local authorities of the country you are departing from as well as the embassy of your destination country.

Children need to have their own passport to travel from 26 June 2012 onwards

The Finnish police has informed, that children need to have their own passport to travel from 26 June 2012 onwards. Children of EU nationals can no longer travel by having their names added to their parents’ passports.

In August 2006 Finland still issued passports into which parents could have their children added. Such passports are still valid non-biometric 10-year passports. From 26 June 2012, these 10-year passports can only be used by the primary holder of the passport (the parent) until the document expires. Any children that are included in the passport may no longer travel with the passport from 26 June 2012.

During the first few months of the new EU legislation coming into effect, the implementation may vary slightly in each European Union member state. Some of the member states have informed that they will enforce the new legislation at their border crossing points immediately when the time limit expires on 26 June. It needs to be noted that for example airlines are implementing EU legislation when checking the passenger’s right to travel on a flight.

The Finnish Border Guard allows children included in their parent’s Finnish passport to return to Finland even after 26 June, but leaving the country will not be permitted.

Check-in

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

Children's pushchairs

Children's pushchairs are 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. 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.

After arriving to your destination, 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.

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.

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

On all our intercontinental and leisure flights 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.