Unaccompanied minors
Unaccompanied children of a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 14 years of age are obligated to make use of our ‘unaccompanied minor service’. We should point out that your child will be denied boarding privileges if you have not booked our unaccompanied minor service. Children under the age of 5 years are not permitted to travel unaccompanied on KLM flights. Young passengers from 15 to 18 years of age are permitted to travel independently, but are entitled to make use of our unaccompanied minor service should they wish to do so.
On this page:
The unaccompanied minor service
With this service, you can rest assured that your child will receive special care and attention throughout the journey, even in the event of delays. Your child will be under the constant supervision of ground and cabin staff. When dropping an unaccompanied child off at the airport, the adult accompanying the child should present him/her at the check-in counter previous to departure. The adult who brings the child to the airport should always remain at the airport until the aircraft has departed. During a somewhat longer transfer only traveling children will be accommodated in our Junior Jet Lounge at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Here they can enjoy soft drinks, video and computer games, videos, books in various languages and a variety of toys. At the end of the journey, a KLM agent will personally accompany your child to the person you have authorized to collect the child.
How to arrange for the unaccompanied minor service
The unaccompanied minor service has to be booked before the trip begins. It is not possible to make these arrangements, however, when booking your flight at this website. To book this service, you will have to arrange for it by contacting our telephone reservations service.
If your flight is operated by one of KLM’s partner airlines, other rules can apply to children travelling alone. For this reason, you should ask your travel agent about this or get information directly from that airline about its rules.
How the unaccompanied minor service works
In order to have your child accompanied during the trip, you will have to lend your authorisation for this. This is done by completing and signing a “Handling Advice” form issued by the airline during the reservation process or given to you at the airport before the trip begins.
The parent or other adult who brings the child to the airport and turns him/her over to the airline’s personnel is expected to remain at the airport until the aircraft has departed.
Costs for the unaccompanied minor service
Costs:
- For children younger than 12: the rate assigned to an adult ticket.
- For children 12 years of age and older: the rate assigned to an adult ticket plus a service surcharge.
The service surcharge for the outward-bound flight and any return flight will have to be paid before the trip begins.
Service surcharge for unaccompanied minor service for children aged 12 and older
One-way trip | Non-stop | With transfer |
Within Europe | EUR 40 | EUR 65 |
All other regions | EUR 60 | EUR 120 |
Discounts sometimes apply to brothers/sisters travelling together. You can request for information about this by contacting our telephone reservations service.