London-based site Secret London has highlighted an easyJet story that caught parents' attention: the question of whether babies need their own passport — and the fees and paperwork that come with taking an infant abroad. The piece, shared as part of a holiday offer feature, speaks to a genuinely common confusion among first-time family travellers.
The short version for UK families: yes, every child, including newborns, needs their own passport to fly internationally. There's no such thing as travelling on a parent's passport any more. A child passport costs less than an adult one, but the application process is the same in principle — photos, a countersignatory for certain cases, and processing time that can stretch several weeks, longer at busy periods. Leaving it until the week before a flight is a classic family holiday mistake.
On easyJet specifically, infants under two can travel on a parent's lap for a small fee on most routes, and you can usually add them to a booking after the fact. Approved car seats and pushchairs are generally handled free of charge, with pushchairs typically returned at the aircraft door or baggage belt depending on the airport.
Why does this matter to travellers? Because baby-related travel admin is exactly the kind of thing that ruins a booking if discovered late. Passport lead times, infant seat fees and cabin baggage rules for pushchairs all vary by airline and country, so it's worth checking both your airline and your destination's entry rules before paying for anything. A note of caution: the source article itself wasn't fully accessible, so treat any specific offer details it mentions as worth verifying directly with easyJet before booking.
Story first reported by Secret London.
