Born during a flight
 

What nationality does a newborn baby gets if he was born on board a plane if it was flying an international flight if it is born over the atlantic?Or over another continent?

And would both mother and baby be entitled to FF miles?

Depends on the nationality of the parents and the plane!
Where the plane is registered that law will apply (same on ships).
So if it is a US plane it will get the US nationality.
The country under the plane does not matter.

With most nationalities the child will get the nationality of the parents.

Example:
German parents on board an American flight:
Child will get both German and American nationalities.

But:
If you are over the the 34st week of pregnancy you are not allowed to fly.
You will probably denied boarding!

So they must charge you a ticket for the new born :D

Thank you
BTW is it true that the new born will get free tickets for life on that airline?

It will be an open-jaw, since the newborn only qualified as a passenger for the post-partum part of the journey. FF miles will be pro-rated, based on the mileage after his jaw is opened and he starts to cry.

This reminds me of that George Carlin routine about confession, communion and the international date line.

"Fadda, if you was on a ship at seat,..."

The baby initially assumes the nationality of the MOTHER for immediate arrival formalities. The nationality of the father is irrelevant until a birth certificate naming him as father is prepared, which cannot be done inflight. In the event of the mother becoming deceased at delivery, the child is treated as a ward of the state whose flag operation is being conducted, and NOT that of the state whose registration is carried on the aircraft (if it is different). If the mother carries dual nationality, then the nationality of the documentation used to make the current flight is considered to be the primary citizenship. The airspace being flown over at the time of delivery is irrelevant. The aircraft and all enclosed within it is considered to be the soil of the country whose authority under which it is flying and the child *may* be entitled to that nationality depending upon individual country laws on the issue. The birth certificate will read "International Airspace" as place of birth.

How often does it happen? Usually the airlines won't let a woman in her third trimester fly for obvious reasons.

I just read a story about a jordanian women giving birth on a KLM flight from Amsterdam to Chicago in 2003

Oh really? Interesting! My guess is that she wasn't overly large. I've seen women checking in for flights who were asked for doctor's notes because the women looked like they were very close to delivery dates.

That's not true. Delta, for instance, has no official restriction on flying at any time during pregnancy.

I agree, this is completely untrue.

I remember that story. I posted about it on another board in August of 2004, but can't find the original article. I attributed at the time to AP.