China Eastern Airlines minors flying alone

What service does China Eastern Airlines offer regarding minors?

Children between 5 and 12 years old, provided they are healthy, are allowed to travel alone with the Unaccompanied Minor Service. China Eastern also has a specially trained staff who can take care of Unaccompanied Minors during the entire flight, as well as handling through the airports. However, certain conditions must be met prior to flight take-off, as well as certain documentation to be filled, so that your child could benefit from all China Eastern has to offer.

What are the age restrictions for children traveling alone?

Unaccompanied children aged between 5 and 12 years are accepted on China Eastern flights. Even if they are traveling together with adults, they will be considered unaccompanied if their tickets were bought for different classes.

According to Domestic Flight Conditions, the Unaccompanied Minors will have their tickets priced at 50% of adult fare.

International Flight Conditions stipulate that Unaccompanied Minors traveling with China Eastern Airlines must pay the full price of an adult fare for their international tickets.

Unaccompanied Minor Service

China Eastern Airlines will take full responsibility regarding Unaccompanied Minors traveling under their supervision. Although they are accepted on board under special regulations, Unaccompanied Minors can travel on any class and will be taken care of by specially designated employees, who will assist them during boarding, flight and disembarkment.

China Eastern must be made aware in advance of your intention to send away your minor unaccompanied (at least 48 hours before departure for domestic flights and 96 hours before departure for international flights), and they must consent to your request!

The carriage procedure to and from the airport must be supervised by parents or guardians. In this case, an affirmation must be provided, stipulating there will be someone on the other end, to pick up the minor.

If your minor child has to go through a transfer flight with China Eastern, you will have to take care of all the necessary arrangements, and seats must be confirmed for all the segments of the journey. Also, the operating carrier for the first connecting flight must be China Eastern Airlines or Shanghai Airlines, the transfer must be for the same day at a transit point that is a main hub, and the minimum connecting time must be at least 150 minutes.

Restrictions

Only a limited number (three to five) of Unaccompanied Minors can be accepted per flight, depending on the aircraft model.

Drop-off and Pick-up

There are certain steps that must be followed in order to make sure that your Unaccompanied Minor’s trip will go smoothly.

First of all, the parent or guardian must fill in, one week prior to scheduled departure, the “Unaccompanied Minor Requested for Carriage – Handling Advice” form, as well as a transportation application, and hand them over to the Marketing Department.

Secondly, Marketing personnel fax the destination airport (as stated in the form) and request that the adult responsible with receiving the minor to be contacted. At the destination airport, staff members will talk to the person responsible for the minor at the arrival, and then fax back the verification.

After this procedure, the minor’s ticket will be attached both the verification fax and the “Unaccompanied Minor Requested for Carriage – Handling Advice” form. When the minor will proceed for check-in, this mandatory documentation will be verified and, if the information checks, the minor will be committed to the handling staff. The airport’s staff will put all the relevant documentation, along with a Special Service Notification filled in by them, into the minor’s travel certificate bag.

Although specially trained staff will carry the minor through all the boarding procedures, the minor’s parent / guardian is still required to be present at the airport until the plane takes off!

Next, after boarding, the Special Service Notification form will be signed by the chief flight attendant. When arriving at the destination, the minor will be assisted through disembarkation, immigration procedures and baggage retrieval.

Upon checking the ID and papers of the pre-established receiving party (who will have to sign the “Unaccompanied Minor Requested for Carriage – Handling Advice” form), airport’s staff will entrust the minor safely and then, finally, will store the signed form in the airline’s archives.

Fees

Additional charges will be applied if the receiving party does not pick-up the Unaccompanied Minor at the established time of arrival or if they postpone the reception of the minor.

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