Cork to London

pablo21

I'm looking for someone who travel's regularly from Cork Airport to London (any but preferably Gatwick). I need someone trustworthy to accompany a 7 year old on monthly trips from Cork to London. If you are a regular visitor to Gatwick or Horsham from Friday to Sunday or similar please get in touch. Happy to compensate for flights etc.

mcko

You are only allowed to take your own children out of the country.

.red.

Children can fly on their own with prior notice. They are brought to the steps of the aircraft by a staff member and given over to the flight crew. They are then handed over to a staff member on the arrivals airport and brought thru immigration etc and to a waiting designated adult.
i dont know how you go about booking it tho. Ring cork airport and ask to speak to the Swissport desk and they will answer any questions.

the beer revolu

.red. wrote: »

Children can fly on their own with prior notice. They are brought to the steps of the aircraft by a staff member and given over to the flight crew. They are then handed over to a staff member on the arrivals airport and brought thru immigration etc and to a waiting designated adult.
i dont know how you go about booking it tho. Ring cork airport and ask to speak to the Swissport desk and they will answer any questions.

That depends on the airline.
Ryanair don't offer this service and I'm not sure if Aer Linus do it any more.

I believe anyone can accompany a child out of the country provided they have verifiable letters of permission from both parents/guardians.
I'm open to correction on this, though.

handlemaster

wouldnt do this no matter what.

etoughguy

handlemaster wrote: »

wouldnt do this no matter what.

100%
A total internet stranger asks someone to take a 7 year child on a flight? Im sure the OP had the best of interests but I wouldnt do this for all the barrys tea in china

evilivor

the beer revolu wrote: »

That depends on the airline.
Ryanair don't offer this service and I'm not sure if Aer Linus do it any more.

I believe anyone can accompany a child out of the country provided they have verifiable letters of permission from both parents/guardians.
I'm open to correction on this, though.

British Airways allow children to travel unaccompanied on their Skyflers programme but I don't know if it applies on the code share routes with Aer Lingus. It also costs about £100 per flight.

pablo21

A strange request it may be, but I travel this route every 3 weeks and I will be doing it for the next 5 years minimum until she reach's the age to travel alone, and I don't believe its an outlandish idea that there might be somebody doing the same, or an independent company offering this service. The problem is the airlines that service Cork don't (Ryanair + Aerlingus). There is one flight per day to Cork and its extremely difficult to turn the flight around to make the same flight back. And for anyone stupid enough to think I'd launch my daughter off on a flight with a total stranger...I don't have words. I'm hoping to identify someone in the Cork area who is already a regular visitor to family etc in the London, preferably gatwick area. The odd's are slim I know but I only need a couple of trips covered if I find the right person, if not I'll just carry on doing them myself or my family.

Balmed Out

Best of luck op.
I don't do the flight but don't think its such a terrible request and I'd hope someone who does do it regularly may be willing to help.
There are a lot of children who have parents who aren't couples and have one living in Ireland and another abroad and im sure many people would be willing to help if they can.

pablo21

Many thank's Balmed out. The fact that your from Cork means I'm not a million miles off the mark here. 1 in 5 children in Ireland see here are from a 1 parent family so I'm pretty sure I'm not on my own here. If I could pay for a professional service to do this I would but there is simply nothing available. Thanks again :-)

Balmed Out wrote: »

Best of luck op.
I don't do the flight but don't think its such a terrible request and I'd hope someone who does do it regularly may be willing to help.
There are a lot of children who have parents who aren't couples and have one living in Ireland and another abroad and im sure many people would be willing to help if they can.

pablo21

It doesn't apply to the code shares. This would be the simplest solution if it was available.

etoughguy

pablo21 wrote: »

A strange request it may be, but I travel this route every 3 weeks and I will be doing it for the next 5 years minimum until she reach's the age to travel alone, and I don't believe its an outlandish idea that there might be somebody doing the same, or an independent company offering this service. The problem is the airlines that service Cork don't (Ryanair + Aerlingus). There is one flight per day to Cork and its extremely difficult to turn the flight around to make the same flight back. And for anyone stupid enough to think I'd launch my daughter off on a flight with a total stranger...I don't have words. I'm hoping to identify someone in the Cork area who is already a regular visitor to family etc in the London, preferably gatwick area. The odd's are slim I know but I only need a couple of trips covered if I find the right person, if not I'll just carry on doing them myself or my family.

Calling people stupid in one breath and asking for help in another? A person on an anonymous internet forum website is surely a stranger to you?
I'm not being stupid I'm giving my personal opinion, like I said I believe your intentions are genuine here. I do hope things work out for you. I have no doubt you are aware of the dangers of the real world out there so when I see I wouldn't do it that's what I mean

There are alot more than one flight a day to Cork but I presume you mean via Gatwick
I don't envy your dilemma but I wouldn't trust anyone outside family / close friends in this day and age (sad as that may be)
Best of luck

pablo21

etoughguy wrote: »

Calling people stupid in one breath and asking for help in another? A person on an anonymous internet forum website is surely a stranger to you?
I'm not being stupid I'm giving my personal opinion, like I said I believe your intentions are genuine here. I do hope things work out for you. I have no doubt you are aware of the dangers of the real world out there so when I see I wouldn't do it that's what I mean

There are alot more than one flight a day to Cork but I presume you mean via Gatwick
I don't envy your dilemma but I wouldn't trust anyone outside family / close friends in this day and age (sad as that may be)
Best of luck

Firstly, nobody is calling you stupid, I'm just being clear that this is not some haphazard, ill thought out, spur of the moment, request for help. I've been doing this for 5 years now and if it takes another year or two to find the right person to assist on some of these trips then it is time well spent. I've researched every which way possible of getting from London to Cork and vice versa, spoke with every airline, liaised with Service Air, flown family member's from every corner of the country etc etc. I met a woman on one trip who was a retired child minder and visited her family in London every two weeks. She was ideal but unfortunately took ill not long after. My idea in posting on boards was not to reach some party boy or student weekending in London but to find a reliable regular visitor to the UK from the Cork area who I could meet and vet way in advance of ever making the trip. It could be somebodies Mum or Aunt! The flights are full pretty much every weekend from Cork to gatwick so I don't think its impossible to find a regular, reliable and maybe even suitably qualified person who I would pay to accompany my daughter. I interviewed a new babysitter 6 months ago and vetted her before letting her mind my babies. I've interviewed and vetted an Au pair who spent 9 months with us. I intend to put the same scrutiny in choosing the right person to accompany her on flights.

For anyone who is not in this situation, you have no concept of the complexity and cost of maintaining regular access to see your child when they live in a different country. So while everyone has the right to reply with their ill informed opinions of what they think they would or wouldn't do, I would appreciate anyone who has genuine experience in this type of situation sharing their idea's with me.
I would love to have a chat with anyone who found themselves in a similar situation. From speaking with the various airline's, ( I have family working in the airline industry) the unaccompanied minor is a very regular occurrence on longer trips, just not between Ireland and UK.

etoughguy

Well thats me put back in my box!
OP best of luck, if I do happen to think of something or hear of anything I will reply and let you know

good luck with this

pablo21

etoughguy wrote: »

Well thats me put back in my box!
OP best of luck, if I do happen to think of something or hear of anything I will reply and let you know

good luck with this

All opinions greatly appreciated regardless lol Many thanks

the beer revolu

etoughguy wrote: »

There are alot more than one flight a day to Cork but I presume you mean via Gatwick
I don't envy your dilemma but I wouldn't trust anyone outside family / close friends in this day and age (sad as that may be)
Best of luck

The vast majority of child abuse cases are perpetrated by friends and family members, not strangers.
Your comments are judgmental, I'll informed and unhelpful.

etoughguy

the beer revolu wrote: »

The vast majority of child abuse cases are perpetrated by friends and family members, not strangers.
Your comments are judgmental, I'll informed and unhelpful.

Yes warning a person of appealing to strangers to accompany a child is very unhelpful

Whats your (non judgmental?), well informed and helpful input here then?

Like I said to the OP if I can think of something to help in any way I will

run_Forrest_run

the beer revolu wrote: »

The vast majority of child abuse cases are perpetrated by friends and family members, not strangers.
Your comments are judgmental, I'll informed and unhelpful.

oh come on now, don't be so sensationalist. You can also look at it the other way, no one will love and care for a person more than a family relation.

the beer revolu

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

oh come on now, don't be so sensationalist. You can also look at it the other way, no one will love and care for a person more than a family relation.

I was merely being as sensationalist as Etoughguy.

@Etoughguy, I already offered what information I could on the matter (in a non judgmental way).

Op, my wife visits her family near Horsham every month or two but pretty much never travels over weekends - I assume that this is of no use to you?

pablo21

the beer revolu wrote: »

I was merely being as sensationalist as Etoughguy.

@Etoughguy, I already offered what information I could on the matter (in a non judgmental way).

Op, my wife visits her family near Horsham every month or two but pretty much never travels over weekends - I assume that this is of no use to you?

You see now I'm feeling very enthused!! Its not always at weekends but the majority would be. I might pm you my email address if you don't mind and we can see if anything lines up! I work about 2 minutes from Horsham and live about 5 minutes away from it.

etoughguy

the beer revolu wrote: »

I was merely being as sensationalist as Etoughguy.

@Etoughguy, I already offered what information I could on the matter (in a non judgmental way).

Op, my wife visits her family near Horsham every month or two but pretty much never travels over weekends - I assume that this is of no use to you?

Fair enough
Looks like your in a great position to help the OP so all's well that ends well which is a good news

the beer revolu

pablo21 wrote: »

You see now I'm feeling very enthused!! Its not always at weekends but the majority would be. I might pm you my email address if you don't mind and we can see if anything lines up! I work about 2 minutes from Horsham and live about 5 minutes away from it.

Do pm me.
Not sure if anything would work out but I spoke to my wife just now and she has no objections to the idea. She usually gets the train to Horsham.
You would need to do some research as to what the legal requirements would be.

pablo21

the beer revolu wrote: »

Do pm me.
Not sure if anything would work out but I spoke to my wife just now and she has no objections to the idea. She usually gets the train to Horsham.
You would need to do some research as to what the legal requirements would be.

Thats fantastic! If it only worked for one flight a year it would be progress. I'll pm you my contact details and lets see what happen's!

leahyl

OP I'm going to close this thread as it seems you have had one positive response anyway. If anybody else feels they can help you then they can PM you.