What age is reasonable to let a 13 year old travel by plane with two others both 11?

Well in Uk it depends on the airline Ryanair won't take unaccompAnied until they are 16

Large airlines offer an assisted travel service for unaccompanied youngsters of this age but I guess this would not happen in your case. Surely age 11 is too young and a sensible 13 year old may be able to travel alone but not be responsible for younger children.

Our boys had to have one of them 16 or over and he could take charge of his brothers aged 11 & 13 at the time,we where able to take them to boarding gate the airline was Monarch not too sure if the ages have changed,this was for a 2.5 hr flight over to Spain.

Personally I think 11 and 13 is too young to be left alone there are often delays or other problems, once when I was on a very brief flight we all had to get off and go back to the airport, and another time we had to land at a totally different airport then get a coach back to the original

My friend' s GD has regularly flown on her own from quite a young age in NZ from N to S island visiting parents.
Some C are very mature but it will depend on the airline.
Children of ex pats have flown to and from boarding school for years. Let's face it they can't get into any bother or problems. Again as I say it will depend on the airline.

My oldest flew alone within the U.K. when he was 8yo and my Dd flew to the US alone when she was 12.

The only time any of my four dc has been 'lost' was when my son disappeared on his first long distance train journey when he was 15!

Many years ago when DSister and I flew to Singapore for school holidays, we were officially described as 'unaccompanied minors ' until we were 17 and one of the cabin staff had the responsibility of looking after us.

DS and I were at the upper end of the range (14 & 16) so we were more or less left to our own devices, but there were quite a cluster of children between 8 and 12 who were supervised, very well and closely by cabin staff.

My children used to travel quite a bit as 'Unaccompanied Minors', with all the requisite paperwork and pre-arrangements.

However, these days, I don't think it's a matter of what's reasonable but what the airlines and authorities will allow.

Dare I suggest there is something "Irish" about this thread title?
Just read it again.

I thought that when I first read it Mawboon but wasn't bold enough to say anything ??

I packed my two children, then about 8 and 10 or a bit older (can't remember when it was now) off to London on a coach from Stoke on Trent to meet their cousins in whatever coach station in London it was.

They had very firm instructions about keeping safe, if their cousins and parents were not there to go into the office and stay there etc etc. No mobile phones for children then.
They were sensible when it came to an adventure like that.
We then drove down to bring them back home.

Biggest dgs flew as an unaccompanied minor from age of around 8. He was very well supervised.

I used to fly as an unaccompanied minor from the age of 13, backwards and forwards to school but, as M0nica says, children from the age of 8 upwards were flying round the world in the same way.

I used to travel down to London on the train too and my House Mistress would always make me wear my uniform - so people would look out for me. Not sure that would be highly recommended today

My son flew unaccompanied to Europe from the age of 11. The school made sure he was accompanied to the airport and we met him at the other end. Then he was met at the airport going back. At half term he was accompanied to the train station and seen onto his train when he travelled to stay with my sister. He became quite an accomplished traveller and never came to any harm.

My DD first travelled solo to Cyprus (Larnaca, 4.5 hours) at aged 12. She is 32 now and still says it was one of the best experiences of her life . She was escorted all the way by excellent staff and was given VIP treatment. DH and I met her off the plane and she was literally handed over at arrivals.

But all these people who flew as unaccompAnied minors donkey years ago it was a very different scenario to start with unaccompanied minors have a designated escort I don't think that would happen on a 2 hour flight that the poster is talking about
We didn't have such busy airports, we didn't have terrorists and all the palaver you have to go through now Flying today is very very different to when you are all reminiscing about also short flights don't have escorts and most companies don't allow children under 16 unescorted so it would be wise of the original poster to check with the airline first or else this whole thread is pointless

Personally I think 11 and 13 is too young to be left alone there are often delays or other problems,

They're not left alone Bluebell. My GS(11) flew from Heathrow to Switzerland earlier this year under the Unaccompanied Minor scheme. He was handed over, a sign put around his neck, and escorted to a special lounge with other UMs, they are then taken to the plane and handed over. Then the reverse when he landed.

Also, the adult is supposed to wait until the flight has departed before leaving the airport.

Ask the airline for an explanation to their scheme.

My DD started flying as an Unaccompanied Minor when she was 7. The airlines were great my DS1 who has learning difficulties has also flown with assistance, never any problems.
Like Sue the only time DD got "lost" was on a long distance train journey, her Aunt had not realised there are 2 railway stations in Edinburgh and she got off at the wrong one.

DD flew from Germany with a stopover in Amsterdam when she was a young teenager, she travelled as an unaccompanied minor. Two years later she flew from Heathrow to Germany with her younger brother but I did not have them escorted as they were quite independent.

My grandchildren also flew to USA as unaccompanied minors. They were looked after as Riverwalk said. However this was several years ago and times were very different. As BlueBelle pointed out there are whole raft of different issues now. I would be reluctant to allow children to do that now.

Why are things very different now? It is their world and they need to learn to negotiate it.

I think it totally depends on the maturity and character of the child. One child may stay calm and confident in the face of delays or an emergency diversion to a different airport, another may totally panic.

I would have to ask myself the question "IF they were abandoned in an unknown airport by staff who had forgotten about them - how would they cope with that situation?"

My first ever flight was for my honeymoon, but from age 7 I regularly visited my godmother and her mother travelling from Malvern to Gerrards Cross, Bucks by National Express and changing at Cheltenham. It was a real adventure. Went regularly to Europe by train and ferry from age 13 and never had any problems.