Travelling with kids under 12? Family check-in at British Airways

British Airways have introduced family check-in at London Heathrow Terminal 5. Anyone who is travelling with children under 12 years old are able to use this service.

At the same time, family boarding passes have been introduced. This means that all passengers in the family can now be on a single boarding pass which will save shuffling many bits of paper.

Family Check-In

Located at Zone A at Terminal 5 in London Heathrow, the family check-in section is well sign posted. According to the family section of the British Airways web site, it also has “direct access to oversize baggage belts for car seats and pushchairs, and games to keep the little ones entertained.”

Considering the amount of luggage that families sometimes have, it will be great for them to have their own area. Since everyone there will be in the same situation, it should be less stressful all round. According to research presented in the press release, the average child takes their first flight at age four. This is a far cry from years past which means more and more little ones are flying.

With A Dedicated Security Lane

Nothing makes a person happier than hearing the words dedicated security lane. In this case, people go through family check-in and then go through their own security screening.

This should be a boon for everyone else travelling. It is never much fun to be stuck behind the family with screaming kids, watching the poor parents trying to deal with babies, toddlers and all the hand luggage.

Overall Thoughts

Quite frankly this is a very exciting development as far as I am concerned, and I don’t even have kids. Providing a dedicated check-in and security area for people with children under 12 is beneficial to the family and everyone else.

I’m quite astonished this hasn’t come up anywhere else in the world. I certainly have never seen it and I think it’s an excellent idea. Hopefully it’s a big success and more airports offer something similar.

Have you ever seen a family check-in area before? Let me know if you have. Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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All images via British Airways.