When I tried researching the use of child seats onboard British Airways flights a few months ago I found a smattering of information scattered around on various forums but nothing conclusive.
Having flown a handful of sectors with Little Miss CloudGazer in a car seat I thought I'd try to assemble what I'd learnt online and onboard in case it was of use to others.
BA's published information on the use of car seats onboard
It's summarised
here on the BA website and should be read in detail.
The following rules dictate the type of seat that you may use on the flight:
- must be designed to be secured by means of a normal aircraft single lap strap and face the same direction as the passenger seat on which it is positioned.
- must have a 5-point restraining harness.
- must not exceed the dimensions of the aircraft seat, and should fit into an area of 45cm x 45cm (17.5ins x 17.5ins).
These do appear to be the only restrictions regarding the seat itself. The seat does not need to carry any marking/sticker such as a BSI or TUV certification.
The 5-point harness, if not obvious by name, is one that has 2 straps that come over the shoulders, 2 around the waist like a belt and 1 that goes between the legs. A three point harness does not have the waist straps. Both are illustrated and explained
here
Belt shorteners
One of the listed rules is:
- must be strapped in place ensuring that the adult lap strap buckle does not lie directly over any part of the frame or under the structure of the car type seat after tightening.
You may wish to buy a belt shortener. This can be used to ensure that the plane's seat buckle doesn't rest on or under the seat frame. They weren't too easy to find online until I worked out what to search for. If you search for "Kiddy Seat Belt Shortener" you'll find them retailing for around £5.
We have flown on BA 747s and several A320 variants, none of them required the belt shortener to be used.
Which [aeroplane] seats can the child seat be used in?
The BA website suggests that a child seat can be used in any flight class.
Note that you must have purchased a seat for the child. I.e. You can't use a child seat for a lap infant.
It's not specified anywhere online but the child seat is fairly hard to get past once fitted. Because of this it should only be used in places where it won't impede anyone's exit in an emergency. This means that permitted locations include bulkhead seats, window seats and the middle seats of central sections. As with all children you can't use an exit row seat.
Our experiences onboard
- Most BA staff we talked with weren't too clued up on the rules. They just want to see that the seat is secure and fits within the base of the plane's seat.
- We only learnt about the "impeding an exit" rules on the 4th flight we flew. For the first three she sat in a B seat.
- On every flight we've been asked as we got onto the plane if we needed help fitting the seat.
Tips
- Tension the seat both before and after your child is sitting in it
- Don't release the plane belt's buckle until your child is out of the seat. The seat is front heavy!
Checking child seats into the hold?
This isn't the main topic of this thread but it's worth noting that if you want to bring a child seat with you but not for use on the flight itself BA generously let you bring it along as an extra item of luggage. Full details in the "checked baggage" section
here