Travelling with children

From June 2012 every citizen of the Slovak Republic needs to have his or her own passport when travelling out of the Slovak Republic.

Therefore, make sure you check all the entry requirements for your target destination before travelling and make sure all your travel documents are valid. You might thus prevent possible complications, such as being refused to check in for your flight.

According to most air carriers’ Conditions of Carriage and due to safety reasons, an infant, meaning a baby between 8 days and 2 years of age at date of travel cannot fly in their own seat, but must be sat in the lap of the accompanying person, who must be older than sixteen years. This is the reason why it is not possible to pay extra for an additional seat for a baby.

With most air carriers, an infant is also not subject to weight limit on hand baggage and it is neither possible to pay for a weight limit for a checked baggage in the case of an infant. The passenger is entitled to one piece of baggage free of charge for the use of the infant (for example, a baby carriage), which must be given to the on-board crew before boarding the aircraft. The baby carriage is carried individually in the baggage area of the aircraft in a manner that will allow it to be available for the use of the smallest passengers immediately after the disembarkation from the aircraft. We recommend you read the Conditions of Carriage of your chosen airline before flying.

Baby food and medication

The carriage of baby food during flights in hand baggage is subject to special regulations and may be carried even in a volume above the permitted volume of 100 ml per packaging. Baby food must be kept in a transparent and re-sealable bag and placed on a tray when going through security control.

Special regulations also apply in the case of medication and if your child needs this medication during your travels, do not forget to pack them in your hand baggage. Readily available medications such as nasal sprays or eye drops or cough syrups may be carried without a prescription. If the packaging is larger than 100 ml, please ensure you carry a note from a doctor in both the Slovak and English languages (it does not have to be officially verified).

As take-offs and landing might cause our small passengers to experience pressure in ears, we therefore advice you to pack a dummy or a sweet/chewing gum (according to the age of your child) in your hand baggage, or his or her favourite toy to while away the period before the flight or the flight itself.