A Ryanair flight landed with one extra person on board earlier today after a passenger gave birth in flight.
Passenger Gives Birth at 18,000 Feet
Ryanair Flight 4797 operating between Brussels South Charleroi Airport (CRL) in Belgium and Castellón–Costa Azahar Airport (CDT) in Spain was forced to divert to Limoges Airport (LIG) in France after a passenger gave birth at 18,000 feet.
According to FlightRadar24, the passenger went into labor during the flight and gave birth to a baby girl prior to diverting.
At this time, it is unclear how far along in the pregnancy the mother was but Ryanair has published rules around flying while pregnant. According to the airline’s website, passengers can fly up until the 28th week of their pregnancy. For any passengers traveling past 28 weeks, the following conditions must be met:
- Once a pregnancy reaches its 28th week, you will need to carry a completed ‘fit to fly’ letter from your doctor/midwife;
- If you have a single pregnancy, travel is not permitted beyond the end of the 36th week of your pregnancy;
- For a twin/triplet pregnancy, a ‘fit to fly’ letter is required between 28-32 weeks, and travel is not permitted beyond the end of the 32nd week of pregnancy.
Ryanair, an Irish ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC), is well known for its cheap tickets, myriad of fees, and a hilarious social media department. While the carrier hasn’t directly mentioned the birth on its social media channels, many people in the comments are asking what the fee is for giving birth onboard.
Summary
While there aren’t many details available, a Ryanair flight between Belgium and Spain was forced to divert to France after a passenger gave birth onboard. The baby girl was born at 18,000 feet before the flight was able to land safely at Limoges Airport in France.