To let Dd fly by herself?

[alwaysflyingoff]

Would you let your 16 year old Dd catch a flight completely by herself if she wanted to? Short flight but still worried

Yes it's fine. It used to be much more common than it is now. My husband used to fly unaccompanied (well with a slightly younger sibling!) from London to Scotland each summer holiday to stay with grandparents from about 10 or so. He remembers having to wear a lanyard and sit next to a stewardess, as they were called then.

My son at age 17 flew alone and stayed overnight last year to visit Queens Uni in Belfast. He was very happy to do so and is quite sensible about travelling/organising himself. He got the coach to the airport by himself and a bus the other end. He's now 18 and has done a couple more solo trips to Europe to see a friend. He was slightly older than your daughter but I think he'd have happily flown alone from 14/15 or so. He has used buses and trains alone from first year at secondary school.

Teens need a bit of freedom, so that adulthood isn't a complete shock!

my dd16 went all the way from her aunts house in switzerland to our house in england totally problem free (aunt was pregnant which is the only reason dd was alone the whole way!) so i wouldn’t worry- she’ll be fine as long as she knows what to do in the airport xx

If she is sensible and up for it - yes!

Obviously. Why would it occur to you not to let her?

Of course it's fine at 16, I'm not sure what there is to be worried about.

When I opened this I assumed we'd be talking about a 12 year old or something.

It's good experience

Bloody hell, I was flying by myself (obv taken to airport & collected at other end) at 9 or 10. At 16 I wouldn't have an issue with this at all!

I'm on the careful/conservative end of the spectrum on MN wrt parenting. I let DD1 travel Heathrow to Madrid the month she turned 16 to be met by a language course provider.
She had flown with us a few times, but is a disorganised dyspraxic. I wrote out clear instructions / steps and made sure she had a system for paperwork.
The travel part of the trip worked out just fine.

Letter, depends where you are flying to. Spain requires parental permission for its own citizens till 18, my friend who was meeting my dd explained to border control and it was fine, this was on way back from Spain to UK.

Yes she is!

But yes, absolutely if she's happy and confident to do so.

I accidentally voted the wrong way round, absolutely let her fly! Are there any changes? I was a very frequent unaccompanied minor, think I flew totally alone without the unaccompanied minor service when I was about 14/15. The only bit I slightly struggled with was changing from Paris cdg to Paris Orly, but i just found a family doing the same thing and tagged along!

Is that so! Hmmm quite the blanket statement there! 🙄

Yes, but do talk through keeping safe. Unfortunately passengers with wandering hands are a feature of flying.

Yes this is fine. You may need to give her a letter to travel with saying you give permission and detailing the address she's arriving to plus contact person. We looked at sending my DS on Eurostar alone and those were Eurostar's requirements. Check the individual airline's rules.

If the people on the border are doing their job they should check carefully with her that she's not travelling under duress and feels safe with arrangements, for safeguarding reasons. Make sure she knows this might happen.

Of course

When my child flew I had to take them to check in and provide ID and birth certificate. Check with the airline.

I did Gatwick to the US with an internal flight/change to get to my destination alone when I was 16. No one either end to drop off or meet. No problem.

She'll be fine OP. She'll have a massive confidence boost along the way.

Thanks! Yes this is what we’re worried about really, that they’ll be (understandably) very stringent on any unaccompanied minors entering the country, not really concerned about DD’s capabilities in the airport.

Yes. I flew on my own when 15 and got stranded somewhere remote (but relatively safe) for a week while transiting. I was ok.

A 16 year old is a child why do people trot this out. Are you really that bad at maths that you don't realise16 is less than 18?
Op yes it's fine my dd flew to Australia alone at 16 with no issues.

I flew to Canada and back by myself at nearly 16, was collected by my uncle at Toronto and dropped back there, it was fine. I enjoyed feeling grown up!

She will be safer catching a flight than taking a bus journey.

This shouldn't even be questioned.

Of course a 16 year old can catch a flight alone.

Yes, of course. Why would it be an issue? DD flew alone for the first time at 15, she’s well used to it so no issues whatsoever. Travelling so often with school where they effectively had them do everything for themselves in the airport from age 10 onwards definitely benefited her! I’d probably contact the embassy of wherever she’s going to ask for advice on if she needs a letter of consent from you for immigration or anything like that.