The 12-year-old boy was refused boarding for being solo, according to a mother, and the Australian airline Qantas has now apologized for giving wrong instructions.
A Qantas booking agent had placed Charlie Read, according to Clare Mooney, on a flight from Auckland to Bangkok, she told the New Zealand newspaper the NZ Herald. The young man had intended to see his father.
According to the NZ Herald, Money said that the flight was a code-share between Qantas and Emirates with a layover and carrier change in Sydney.
After the duo arrived at the airport, Qantas informed them that it was unable to be in charge of an unaccompanied youngster during the flight’s layover in Sydney before continuing on to Bangkok because Emirates was in charge of this portion of the trip, according to the outlet.
According to the story, Read’s father, who made the reservation, claimed that when he first inquired, he was told that code-sharing wouldn’t be a problem.
Clare Mooney could not be reached for comment right away.
“We appreciate this would have been a very disappointing experience and we have sorry to the Read family for offering inaccurate advice,” a Qantas spokeswoman told Insider.
The airline said that even though Qantas operated the flights, the flight numbers belonged to Emirates and that it was improper to inform the family that they could use Qantas’ unaccompanied minor service.
The family would receive reimbursement for their expenses, Qantas added.
When Insider contacted Emirates for comment, they did not respond right away.
The Qantas airline crew “discovered challenges rather than solutions from the get-go,” Mooney told the NZ Herald.
Mooney claimed that at first she was informed that her son could not board due to problems with his immunization record. Later, staff claimed that this was incorrect and that her kid was prevented from boarding since the flight had a code-share with Emirates.
According to the NZ Herald, the family claimed they paid an adult fare for their kid as well as an additional charge to have him cared for as an unaccompanied youngster.
Mooney also told the publication that Qantas would not allow her kid to fly alone, despite the fact that both the Qantas and Emirates websites said that children under the age of 12 could do so.
Airlines have had problems with their policy regarding unaccompanied minors before.
According to Insider, Southwest Airlines diverted a flight last month with an unaccompanied girl, age 8, aboard but failed to notify her family.
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