Children, infants and fellow passengers – who on the booking can claim?

The Regulation speaks throughout of passengers. The compensation in Article 7 is paid to passengers, and the level is determined by the distance of the flight. The fact that four people were booked together and paid for with the same card does not therefore turn them into a single claim – it may be four separate claims, each assessed on its own.

The basic condition is set out in Article 3(2)(a): the passenger must have a confirmed reservation on the flight concerned and, except in the case of cancellation referred to in Article 5, present themselves for check-in as stipulated and at the time indicated in advance and in writing by the air carrier, the tour operator or an authorised travel agent, or – if no time is indicated – not later than 45 minutes before the published departure time. Article 2(g) explains what a reservation is: that the passenger has a ticket, or other proof, which indicates that the reservation has been accepted and registered by the air carrier or tour operator.

The fare paid does not affect the fixed sum. A child who travelled on a discounted child fare may be entitled to the same amount as the adult in the next seat, because Article 7(1) ties the level to the distance of the flight and not to what each traveller paid. Article 11 also requires the operating air carrier to give priority to, among others, unaccompanied children, and under Article 11(2) that group has the right to care in accordance with Article 9 as soon as possible in cases of denied boarding, cancellation and delays of any length.

An infant travelling on an adult's lap is given no seat of their own and often pays only a small fee – sometimes nothing at all. The decisive provision is above all Article 3(3): if the child travels free of charge, the child falls outside the Regulation. According to the Commission's 2024 interpretative guidelines, travelling free of charge means being transported without any pecuniary obligation on the part of the passenger. Where the fare has been reduced to zero but taxes and other charges were still paid for the ticket, the guidelines do not count the journey as free of charge.

The Court of Justice has ruled on the lap infant travelling free of charge. In an order of 11 October 2021 in Case C-686/20 (Vueling Airlines), the Court held that a passenger who travels free of charge on account of their young age, but who does not have an allocated seat or a boarding pass and whose name does not appear on the reservations booked by the parents, is excluded from the scope of the Regulation. The Commission's 2024 guidelines repeat this. How an infant who paid something for the journey and appears on the booking is to be assessed is a question the Court has not ruled on.

In practice that means two things. Bring the claim for everyone on the booking who paid for their journey – including an infant for whom you paid taxes, charges or an infant fare – and ask the operating air carrier to state which provision any refusal relies on. And expect the older children's claims to be the formally strongest: a five-year-old with their own paid ticket and their own seat normally meets the same conditions as an adult.

From 23 October 2027 the rules change under Regulation (EU) 2026/2202: infants under two travelling free of charge, or at a fare not available to the public, will then be covered by the Regulation – but not by the right to compensation in Article 7. Until then, the rules described here apply.