Photograph: Eder Paisan/Alamy
British Airways lost my 14-year-old daughter in Toulouse airport when she was flying alone to Heathrow, then charged me for a whole new flight departing the next day. My cousin had checked her in, and she was given a boarding pass marked gate 54, where she duly waited. When staff appeared, she presented herself at the desk and was told that her flight was, in fact, departing from gate 52. Gate 52 had closed before she reached it and she had been marked as a “no-show”.
BA knew she was 14. They knew she was physically in the airport. They knew she had been given wrong information about the gate that was 50 metres away and they were too lazy to check on a young girl sitting on her own. She was shouted at by airport staff as she tried to get back through passport control and security, and was in floods of tears. No one offered her any support.
It took me an hour to get through to BA. Its reaction? I would have to pay £1,200 for another ticket. This was reduced to £680 when I complained. Luckily, my cousin could collect her and give her a bed for the night. I am horrified this is what airport “care” has come to.
JS, Ipswich, Suffolk
This was a frightening experience and eight years ago it would not have happened. Until 2016, BA’s Skyflyer service escorted unaccompanied young travellers through airports and kept an eye on them during the flight. That was withdrawn in 2016 and the minimum unaccompanied travel age was raised from 12 to 14.
Why? BA won’t say, but cost and liabilities are sure to be at the root of it. In fact, I can’t find any UK airline that offers a chaperone service, although some European ones do.
The startling fact is that the aviation sector regards children over 12 as adults. BA’s website explains that they will have to navigate the airport and board the flight without assistance, and you had to sign a form confirming that you understand that your child would be unsupported if there was disruption.
I found it concerning, however, that no one thought to check gate 54 when your daughter failed to board, and I asked BA to investigate. It turns out the departure gate was changed after your daughter checked in. Officials at Toulouse claim announcements were made in the departures hall, and at the gate where your daughter sat. The correct gate was also on the display boards.
It’s possible she was wearing headphones and didn’t hear and, being a novice flyer, she didn’t check the boards. She reached the amended gate after BA staff had left, and crew from a different airline replaced them. BA therefore has no record of what happened subsequently.
The airline is not legally at fault. The issue is, why, in this age of safeguarding, there is no option to request – and pay for, if need be – an escort service for minors.
Since there isn’t, it’s a good idea for parents and guardians to remain in the terminal until the flight has departed, and give the child a checklist, including a note to keep an eye on display boards, airline apps and announcements for updates. Your daughter did very well to get herself back to arrivals, and I hope it hasn’t put her off travelling alone again.
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