I rarely experience waiting for a stand at AMS if the arrival is on time; all the occasions I can remember off the top of my head are due to an arrival before scheduled arrival time.

If that does happen, it could lead to a missed flight, but given how rare it is in my experience, I would be comfortable risking GBP60-ish on that.

EasyJet just cancelled my outbound flight on Saturday 3rd April from London Gatwick to Sofia . I am going to pick up my daughters (aged 10 & 13) who live there with their mother so they can spend a week with me in the U.K. all 3 of us are booked to return on the 12:00 flight from Sofia to gatwick on Sunday 4th April.

I usually fly out the day before the return flight and stay at an airport hotel

I�m trying to ask EasyJet if they can guarantee that if I fly out on Sunday morning flight at 06:10, will I be able to pick up my daughters and return with them ok the same plane regards at we are booked on

I�m sure their mother would be happy to check them in before and their luggage

I�m struggling to get an answer - maybe I could use the transit channel and meet them once they�ve come through passport control for example ?

Any thoughts or advice would be welcomed

I will have the same issue when I return with them on Sunday 11th April too - I now need to fly with them on Sunday 11th April and return on my own on the same day

Your first problem is that easyJet does not accept unaccompanied children under 15. Unless you meet them landside they will not be accepted for check-in:
https://www.easyjet.com/en/help/boar...-with-children

An our poster would have to clear the border then get around to the check in desks (which close 40 mins before departure) and then clear security and get to the gate before Easyjet closes it which I think is usually 30 minutes before departure.

I checked on google flights and are are 45 minutes between scheduled arrival and departure. No way they would get from the plane, clear immigration then get to the desks in less than 5 minutes.

This plan is not going to work and you need to make alternative arrangements to get to SOF.

Thanks for your concern. I have worked in the travel/education industry for decades and can assue you that I am aware of any safeguarding issues. My daughters would not leave their mother on the landside unless she was 100% sure I was waiting airside for them. And if necessary we would arrange a chapperone but I do not see it being a risk for them just to go through security and passport control unaccompanied as these areas are heavinly policed and secure. Many airlines still accept minors as young as 12 unaccompanied and with chapperones, I have known children as uoung as 8 to travel alone although I do not agree with this.

Thanks for your reply.

They would be checked in online - probably the day before. I will also be checked in online.

Their mother would only let them chekc in their case once she knows I am on the ay (she can check the flight status) . She will only let them go to the boarding pass check, security and passport control if she was 100% sure I would be waitign airside and, if necessary, we will arrange a chapperone with the airport to wait with them until I get to them.

So I would call their mother as soon as I land, they can then go through boarding pass check, security and passport control

We would all be together when we go to the actual boarding gate when called

Wouldn't this work ?

Im trying to find out if I can use a transit route to get from the arrivals hall to the departure hall without having to go out through passport control. Sofia Airport (Terminal 1) are telling me that the arrival hall and departure hall are in different buildings but I am sure I have seen a transit sign just before the arrivals passport control and surely they must provide this for people whco do not have visas to enter Bulgaria and are pssing through ?

I would strongly advise that you do this. Get there the night before, with some other airline if necessary.

Easyjet will not respond to your query; they cannot guarantee what you ask, and regardless, the problems are all yours and yours alone to contend with once it all goes wrong, as it most likely will.

Easyjet does not accept unaccompanied minors for travel, even on the say-so of their mother at check-in that their father is already waiting airside to meet them, or that you are about to arrive imminently on the inbound flight.

https://www.easyjet.com/en/help/boar...-with-children

There is no "chaperone" that you will be able to hire to accompany your children from check-in until your arrival, unless that "chaperone" is your wife holding a ticket for the same flight as the children, such that the airline thinks she will be flying on with the children. However, for her to then hand over the children to you and fail to board is likely to cause a security alert and the offloading of the then seemingly unaccompanied children, so I would not recommend this either.

The best and most logical course of action is for you to arrive the day before and for you to check in with your children and accompany them all the way through their journey.

thanks for your advice - one option i have is to fly out with wizz air who land at 02:50 so not much point in bookinmg a hotel
I just wanted to be sure I had explored evey possibility before doing this

Ive already lost hundreds of pounds rescheduling christmas flights and wanted to try to save as much as possible to maximise the number of times i can see my daughters in the futire

Worth also remembering that easyJet is a big fan of the board then hold concept.

Many airports (not all) will already start scanning boarding passes when the aircraft is on long finals or has just arrived and passengers haven't even disembarked. My personal record was a flight ex-NTE where they "boarded" it 50 minutes prior to departure, plane only landed 15 minutes after they started to scan boarding passes.

Sure enough some people were denied boarding later on despite the fact that they were at the gate 20+ minutes prior to departure.

Very different from the legacy carriers who will only board when the aircraft is ready.