No idea how to go about booking a short flight to get my son used to flying!

[allydoobs83]

My 5 year old son will be flying to Hungary with his dad and partner in May, but DS has got it into his head that he's scared of heights (he's not!) and is terrified of flying,despite never having been on a plane before. I'm planning on taking him on a short, internal flight (Dublin,Edinburgh, Jersey, etc) beforehand, so that he knows what to expect but I'm not well travelled myself and,as silly as it sounds, I have no idea where to start with booking flights.
We're in Doncaster so have the choice of a few airports, but am I better off going to individual airport websites,or searching by airline? If I search by airline,is there a quick way of finding out which ones do internal/short haul flights to the destinations I've mentioned above?
Apologies if I am being thick, but any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I quoted your post which included another that referred to it as domestic. I included yours as you responded to the reference to it being domestic.

The term internal in this instance (so flights, trade etc) refers to within the boundaries of a country, not within a group of countries. An international flight is one that starts in one country and ends in another country. The two countries may have agreements regarding travel requirements but that does not make the flight internal or domestic. It is still international, albeit with special arrangements.

The "stop being a baby" comments by his dad will certainly be playing a part in the anxiety your child is feeling.

The DS knows what to expect in terms of care from dad as he's been away on UK holidays with this man before. That is to say - he knows he'll end up feeling small and humiliated. Not great tbh.

Address this, and also his habit of using shyness or fear to dodge activities he doesn't want to do.

What sort of relationship do you have with the new partner?

Agree with pp that a small plane could be scary. You could show some videos from you tube of what it's like gping through the airport, boarding, onboard and landing.

Thank you for your comment. I'm still in two minds as to whether its a good idea or not,but if i do do it,this is exactly what I have in mind. I'm not going to mention the holiday,but sell it to him as a day/night away that we just happen to have to go on a plane for.

He's known my ex's partner since birth (we split whilst I was pregnant), so knows her very well. As mentioned, DS has been on UK holidays with my ex and his partner,so he's used to being away from me/Dad being in charge etc.
I think a lot of the time, the "I'm scared" stuff is an attempt to get attention and/or avoid dealing with a situation he's not comfortable with, and obviously, I don't want him to be distressed, but I also don't want him to miss out on things because the thought of doing it makes him anxious.
We don't have family in Hungary but the reason for the holiday is a family wedding,and DS has met ex partner's dad and brother, who will be there, several times.

my pet peeve is that Irish airports don't do the same thing. Seperate country or not, we are very geographically close, and having to walk 6 km and go through passport control makes it into a much longer journey.

Baffled by UK airports can do this but Irish ones can't. (pretty sure they have a seperate area for Irish internal flights already)