The world’s most family friendly airlines revealed

Flying with young children can be challenging, so it pays to choose an airline that’s going to make the ride a little easier.

New research has revealed the top family-friendly airlines, based on factors such as whether they offer kids’ meals and entertainment, no ‘lap fees’, pre-boarding for families and free seat reservations.

The study was conducted by Play Like Mum and looked at major airlines including Emirates, British Airways, Virgin, Qatar and Qantas.

Only two airlines offered every single ‘family-friendly’ factor – British Airways and Emirates. These were closely followed by Virgin Atlantic, Air France and Lufthansa.

Qantas came ninth on the list of 20 airlines, offering kid’s meals and free entertainment, pre-boarding for families, on board bassinettes or carry cots, allowing passengers to take pushchairs for free and free checked luggage.

The only services Qantas did not offer were free seat reservations and no lap fees.

Flybe, Jet2 and Ryanair were down the bottom of the list, offering only one or two services each.

While Singapore airlines ranked just below Qantas on the chart, they have won the ‘world’s best airline’ award this year, on an overall basis.