Car seat for Easyjet/TAP

[Amber17]

I'm taking DD to Portugal when she'll be 15 months, flying either easyJet or AirPortugal (TAP). I'd like to take her in her car seat (I know this requires me to pay for an extra seat). Both airlines say it needs to be forward facing, TAP says the bottom of the seat needs to be not bigger than 40x40cm. Short of going into Halfords with a tape measure I'm not sure where to start!

Our current seat won't fly as it's an Axkid, so I'm looking to buy something cheap but safe that we can use for flying and in taxis etc in Portugal (and used as a grandparent/spare seat after). I'd prefer to be able to rear-face her in taxis.

On her current growth trajectory she'll be just over 75cm tall and 9.5kg.

Is it possible to get a seat that meets those requirements?

A couple of things to think about:

A lot of airlines will only let you use a car seat in a window seat (so bear in mind when you book) so that it doesn't get in the way in a potential evacuation scenario.

Could you not take your car seat and place in the hold? Usually it's free, same as a pushchair.

You could try Joie Tilt/Graco Extend. I've heard people be successful with Joie Steadi too. The benefit of these is you can fit them RF in a car. Cozy n Safe Fitzroy is also vv similar but only has 13kg RF limit.

Britax Eclipse was the last one with the flight approval, but it's only FF, and has been discontinued so can only be bought second hand now.

Do you by chance know any Americans? It’s really common for toddler seats to be airline approved there so that would be your best bet of finding a suitable one- I have one from when we lived over there and I’ve lent it to friends a few times for this exact purpose! That said, they’re strictly speaking not legal to use in a European car and since American seatbelts work differently, you must install it using the Isofix/Latch.

Otherwise maybe a Maxi Cosi Nomad since it’s compact and it won’t be too painful to lug it all the way through the airport but it’s really not the best seat in terms of car safety so that’s your trade off.

Easiest thing though would be car seat in the hold, book the extra seat and accept she can only sit in it when the seatbelt sign is off.

Do you still have an infant capsule? At those centiles she’d still fit (unless it’s an I-size seat capped at 75cm.
Having flown with my son at a similar age, I’d seriously reconsider using the seat on the plane. It’s something else to carry to the gate, you won’t really have any more room than if she was just sat in your lap. Plus it’s such a short flight.
If you use your infant carrier, it’s super light to carry when you’re away and easy to fit in taxis.

Thanks. I’m keen to take it for the safety aspect in flight, I really do not fancy holding her in turbulence.

Our infant seat is the Axkid Modukid, so 75cm limit unfortunately, and I can’t see how it could be secured FF. I’ll have a look at the Joie Tilt.

If it’s a European airline you do get an infant seatbelt that attaches to yours. So they are secured. Or if you’re really set on it have you considered a CARES harness to secure LO and then the car seat goes in the hold? Another advantage is that it isn’t something bulky to lug through the airport.