DGCA Mandates Child Seat Allocation with Parents: New Rules for Flight Seating Arrangements

Airlines will now have to allocate seats to children below 12 years of age with their parents or guardians. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued new passenger guidance on this matter.

DGCA stated that if children and their parents are traveling on the same PNR (Passenger Name Record), then they will not be charged any additional fee for seat selection. Along with this, DGCA has also instructed airlines to maintain their records.

Civil aviation regulators have raised many issues of not seating children under 12 years of age with their parents or guardians. In recent weeks, many passengers have shared such experiences on social media platform X.

The changes brought in the aviation sector in 2021 are reflected in the Air Transport Circular (ATC) 01 of 2021 issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Additionally, amendments have been made in the Air Transport Circular (ATC) 01 of 2024, titled ‘Unbundling of Services and Fee by Scheduled Airlines.’

One of the options introduced by airlines for passengers is pre-seat selection with a charge. Passengers who do not wish to pay the fee are allocated seats which were not previously booked.

In such cases, passengers traveling in groups or with families, who have not opted for the additional charge for seat selection, mostly end up sitting separately on flights.