Know of any airlines allowing rear-facing infant seats btw Australia-Europe?
 

Hi everyone -

I'm currently researching our options for a trip Sydney-Paris with a 3yo and a 7 months old. The main issue I'm having so far is that none of the airlines I researched allow a rear-facing car seat to be used for our 7 mo.

If anyone knows of an airline doing one or both segments of such a trip that allows rear-facing seats, please let me know!

Also, if you think that none in the region will let us use a rear-facing seat, let me know as well so I can stop googling like mad ;-)

Many thanks!
Best,

Donluis

Why rear-facing?

From what I can tell China Eastern Airlines have no restrictions on whether a seat is rear or forward facing as long as it is permitted for air travel, same with Malaysia Airlines, United will and as far as can tell so will Thai, good luck and let us know :)

I don't know of any U.S. airline that flies that route. The FAA says that car seats have to be used per the manufacturer's instructions, which is kind of vague, but if the child is within the rear-facing limits, by law, they can't force you to turn it around.

Those infant bucket-style seats can't be installed any other way.

Careful as some foreign airlines won't let you even use a car seat for babies under a certain age. Some like Virgin Atlantic (doubt they fly this route anyway) won't allow the parent to use their own car seat in the cabin!!

Frustrating and I've run into these funky rules that don't let parents fly with their children safely. :td:

Depending on the age of your child, find out if you can at least use the car seat at all on the flight. Rear facing is 11 times safer than forward facing but still, if you can at least get your car seat on board, and not have to check it below, that's a start!

Let's hope that some of these airlines "wake up" soon!

Sorry I couldn't help more :(

I would be more concerned about overall safety record of the airline and pick based on that + route, fare, timings. A solitary focus on rear facing might be to the detriment of many other factors that will make this an enjoyable and safe trip. If SYD-CDG I would look first at QF or EK.

ya and wearing a helmet is 73 times safer than not wearing one...

QF are really vague about carseat use, according to their website you have to call and check 24 hours before you fly and Emirates only allow forward facing car seats

Unless the only car seat you have available to you is an infant carrier-type seat, meaning it MUST be rear-facing, then I'd suggest that you'd be fine with your child forward-facing for flight, and you can use the seat rear-facing again in the car at your final destination.

Traveling with two little ones isn't a walk in the park on a good day, so I wouldn't make it any more complicated than it needs to be. I think you can feel good about choosing the right flight time, route, etc., and forward-facing the seat (assuming it's a seat than CAN face forward).

Besides it seems like lots of airlines change their tune on car seats from one minute to the next. Web site says one thing, FA says another, check in staff just shrug and mumble...

ITA. I think you're going to have to settle for a company that will allow a car seat at all in the cabin. Flying is very safe and rear-facing would only be important for take-off and landing. A lot of foreign airlines have this very illogical rule about forcing the child to face forward, against safety standards. Partly, it's because car seats in those countries need a shoulder strap, which most airline seats don't have (and, as I understand, the few that do still aren't useful for installing car seats). So they're simply not used to using car seats in the cabin.

Air France, I understand, is better than it used to be about car seats. The one warning I have is that they take your stroller and you will not see it again till baggage claim at your final destination. If you're connecting, this is not very convenient! Why I never flew them when mine were little (although I live in France and we're French citizens).

I prefer Lufthansa, which is very good about car seats but I can't give you details on rear-facing. It's also not out of your way to connect through Frankfurt.

Some of the ME companies are good too about allowing car seats, although not rear-facing. How old is the child?

Still, using the car seat in the cabin is still more comfortable and safer than flying with a lap baby and it avoids the risks of checking any car seat as luggage. Safety-wise, this is more important. Rear-facing is much safer and it's nice to have the child facing you, and toys are less likely to fall on the ground, etc. You might be able to get away with it inflight, especially if the seat pitch is far enough that the seat doesn't interfere with the person in front of you, reclining.

Here is a list of the approved seats on Lufthansa. I know that they also accept non-German seats that are airline approved (such as FAA approved seats, done that!)

I couldn't find on their site whether the seat has to be forward-facing but on the list, there are a number of infant bucket-style seats which only install rear-facing, therefore, it must be allowed!

http://www.lufthansa.com/mediapool/p...systems%20(PDF)

United technically fly this route but via LAX and EWR but they would allow a rear facing seat

You're right. You can probably skip EWR (any airline) if you can get a Paris-West Coast non-stop. Then fly between Oz and somewhere on the West Coast (usually L.A.)

Many Australians go this slightly-longer route because of the competition over the Atlantic can make the journey significantly cheaper.

Thanks for reminding me of that route!

You don't say which class you're looking at, but if you are going in J then you could fly in business Class on BA SYD-LHR-CDG and pick one of the rear-facing seats in the cabin thanks to their ying-yang layout in longhaul J. That way a forward facing car seat is effectively rear facing...?

It's not. Car seats actually aren't allowed in rear-facing airline seat but you get credit for creativity! I think your boss must love the way you think "outside the box".

The BA site doesn't explicitly state that; merely that your car seat must face the same way as the seat in which it is installed...although it does say that the AmSafe system is basically only suitable for Economy (WT).
http://www.britishairways.com/en-au/...g-ready-to-fly