Children traveling alone

Learn how minors can travel alone on board TAP. Find out about the conditions and see what is the most appropriate solution for you.

Travel for unaccompanied minors

Children with 5 or more years of age can fly alone with TAP by respecting the defined conditions. In the table below, one can see in which context young people and children are considered unaccompanied minors.

A child must be considered an unaccompanied minor. The guardian may or may not be considered an unaccompanied minor.

A child must be considered an unaccompanied minor. The guardian may or may not be considered an unaccompanied minor.

• Minors who are not yet 2 years old must travel accompanied by an adult of at least 18 years of age, who is capable of looking after the baby throughout the entire trip, including check-in formalities and customs. Find out more about traveling with babies.
• On the day of the trip, it is mandatory to present three printed and filled in copies of the UNMR travel authorization form (PDF, 0.12 MB,PT/EN) for each unaccompanied minor boarding the flight.
• Children between 5 and 11 years of age who travel accompanied by a passenger of at least 16 years of age are not considered “unaccompanied minors”, provided that the ability to be accompanied throughout the trip is declared, including acceptance, check-in and airport formalities.

How to book a ticket

The purchase of tickets for unaccompanied minors is not available online. To book a trip for an unaccompanied minor, you must:

1. Contact TAP through the Contact Center to purchase the ticket and to enable us to assist you throughout the process.
2. After the unaccompanied minor's booking has been requested and confirmed, it is mandatory to inform TAP of the names and respective contact details (phone number and address) of the people who will take them to the airport and the people who will pick them up at the airport.

Bookings for unaccompanied minors cannot be changed.
The “unaccompanied minors (UMNR)” service does not cover travel with overnight stops when connecting flights on the minor’s itinerary. Waitlist reservations and online check-in are also not accepted.

Applicable fees

When booking a ticket for an unaccompanied minor, the fees mentioned below will be added per each unaccompanied minor—from 5 to 11 years, or from 12 to 17 years of age if the parents or guardians wish them to be considered as such—and per each one-way trip (outbound-only or return-only flight).

Prices may vary depending on the channel you purchase from, how far in advance you purchase, the date of the trip, the origin and destination, and the type of extra service.

Seat allocation will be done automatically and free of charge at the time of booking for designated rows in the standard zone. If you wish to reserve a specific seat (by the window, for example) in these designated rows, you must do so at the time of booking via Contact Center.

We recommend that, whenever possible, you check the child's seat in advance. It is particularly important that they can sit in a place they like (by the window or in the aisle, for example), to make the trip more comfortable and peaceful. Additionally, we advise that, on long-haul flights, you choose a night trip, so that your child can rest along the way.

• Bookings for unaccompanied minors will be accepted in transfers in Porto and Lisbon, on TAP flights with no connections with other companies, provided that there is no overnight stay in the (LIS/OPO) stopover and the connection time is 6 hours max.
• The service is not available for other flights with TAP or interline connections. If you have a confirmed reservation for an unaccompanied minor after this date, you should contact our Contact Center.
• If you want to make a booking for a child aged under 12 years travelling alone, you must contact our Contact Centre or the nearest TAP counter. This type of booking cannot be made online as it requires special procedures.

Baggage for unaccompanied minors

The child is entitled to carry one personal item and one or two carry-on bags, depending on the Class in which they fly and the destination of the flight. Additionally, they can take free or paid hold baggage, depending on the fare and destination.

The carry-on baggage must not exceed 10 kg and the maximum size of 55x40x20cm.
See what can be considered a personal item and the precautions that the child should take at the Security Check.

The maximum weight of hold baggage varies depending on the Class in which you travel—23 kg for Economy and 32 kg for Business—and cannot exceed the maximum size of 158 cm.

Do you need more baggage?

Accompanying the child

Make sure you arrive early enough so that the child has time to check-in, dispatch the baggage, if necessary, and pass the security check.

If the minor is unaccompanied, you must guide them until it's not possible to go any further. If you want your minor to be accompanied, TAP provides an escort for children traveling alone. The service works as follows:

You must go to the special assistance check-in counter so that the child is under the care of the guardian.

The child will remain accompanied until being handed over to the person responsible for picking them up.

1 To guarantee the availability of the service, we recommend that you book in advance through the Contact Center.

Meals and entertainment

On board TAP flights, there will be special meals for children and entertainment so they can have fun during the trip.

To make the children's trip more enjoyable, we recommend that they take:

• Something that makes them feel comfortable, like a blanket or a stuffed toy.
• Toys to keep them entertained during the trip.

On Medium-Haul Economy Class flights, only the Onboard Sales Service is available. Payment must be made via credit or debit card. Cash payments are not accepted. On Long-Haul Economy Class flights or Business class flights, the meal is included in the ticket. Find out more about meals on board.

TAP also offers special meals for babies and children, however, you have to request it at the time of booking. See all meal options.

To keep the little ones entertained, we have animated films, series and a music channel dedicated to children on board our airplanes. There will be so much entertainment that they won't even notice the time fly by. Find out more about inflight entertainment.

But the fun doesn't stop there! On intercontinental flights there are offers for children and, at the end of any trip, the little ones are entitled to a flight baptism certificate.

Legislation on minors

These minors have the same residency status as that granted to either of their parents.

In order to apply for a residence permit, either parent must submit the application within six months following registration of the child’s birth.

Foreigners under 18 years of age must present a written travel authorization in order to enter Portugal.

Foreign unaccompanied minors may only be allowed to enter the country if they present this document, duly validated, or if a legal representative is waiting for them in Portugal.

Minors leaving Portugal not accompanied by a parent or legal guardian must present a legally certified authorization from their parents or legal guardians when they go through border control.

See the document of the National Council of Justice or the respective website, to find out everything you need for your underage son traveling in Brazil (domestic flights) or abroad.

Authorization of minor:

• Required for Brazilian minors with dual nationality residing outside Brazil;
• It must be certified at a Brazilian Consulate. Certification of the signatures by a notary public or lawyer of the country of residence will not be accepted;
• The same applies to minors with dual nationality traveling from Brazil to other countries, i.e. they must also present an authorization certified by a Brazilian Consulate according to the same rules.

Children under the age of 14 and traveling with Italian passports cannot travel to or from Italy unaccompanied.

If accompanied by someone other than their parents or legal guardian, they must have their own passport and a properly completed “Dichiarazione di Accompagno” (PDF, IT, 0.4MB) form. This document must be signed in the presence of a police officer by both parents (or guardian).

This document is available at any local police station (Questura), but it is not available at the airport police station. If you reside in another country, you must obtain this form from the Italian embassy or consulate.

Unaccompanied minors wishing to travel outside Spanish territory, in addition to having to present their DNI and Passport (the latter for trips outside the Schengen area), must be accompanied by the duly completed Travel Authorization for Unaccompanied Minors, signed by both parents (or legal guardian). This authorization must be recognized in the following facilities: National Police, Guardia Civil, Autonomous Communities Police, Notaries and Alcaldías.

For more information, visit the Ministerio del Interior page here.

TAP Air Portugal would like to inform its Customers that the documentation to be produced by these passengers must comply with the requirements of the National Council of Justice (Conselho Nacional de Justiça - CNJ).

Brazilian children and/or adolescents residing outside the country, whether they have another nationality or not, and who are traveling through the country, unaccompanied by one or both parents, must hold a trip authorization that is valid in Brazil (CNJ Resolution No. 131 of May 26, 2011) so that they can return to their country of origin. This authorization may be:

• International Trip Authorization Form - 2 original physical copies, with signature recognized for authenticity or similarity (if done in a notary's office outside Brazil, the document must include the Hague Convention apostille);
• Electronic International Travel Authorization (Autorização Eletrônica de Viagem Internacional - AEV; e-notariado.org.br);
• Explicit authorization in the Brazilian passport (ATTENTION: if the passport has expired, the authorization will not be valid);
• Judicial Trip Authorization, issued by a Brazilian judge (in the case of ongoing legal proceedings, the required period is longer);
• Travel Authorization issued by the Brazilian Consulate.

Authorization is not required if the minor presents a Certificate of Residence Abroad issued less than two years ago by a Brazilian consular office, provided that the minor is accompanied by one of the parents. No other proof of residence will be accepted unless it is issued by the Brazilian Consulate.

For passengers living in Portugal: the Citizen Card is not accepted as proof of residence.

Unaccompanied minor passengers on domestic flights in Brazil:

According to Art.83. According to the Child and Adolescent Statute, no child or adolescent under the age of 16 may travel outside the district where they reside, unaccompanied by their parents or legal guardians, without express judicial authorization (as amended by Law No. 13,812. of 2019).

For this reason, for passengers up to 16 years old, coming from outside Brazil, to be able to travel within the Brazilian territory on domestic flights, airlines require express authorization from their parents or legal guardian. In the absence of these, judicial authorization is mandatory.

Additionally, the contracting of the unaccompanied minor service (UMNR) is required, and this rule applies to all Brazilian passengers or those with dual nationality. In order to be able to contract the unaccompanied minor service on a domestic flight, the ticket in question must be issued separately from a TAP ticket.