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Woman Gives Birth Mid-Flight on Emirates

An Emirates plane recently landed with one more passenger than it took off with.

Posted on

14 May 2017

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Woman Gives Birth Mid-Flight on Emirates

An unexpected passenger joined an Emirates Airline flight mid-air when a woman went into labour and gave birth.

On its way to Paris from Dubai, Flight EK075 was diverted to the Larnaca International Airport in Cyprus on May 12th.

Once at the airport, the new mother was filmed as she was taken into an ambulance and it was shared by the Cyprus Airports Twitter account.

Flight attendants are trained to deal with these kinds of surprises.

Not the first time

In August 2016, there was another incident where a woman leaving from Dubai to Manila gave birth mid-flight. The woman wasn’t due until October, but she started having contractions and gave birth to a healthy baby girl. The plane did an emergency landing in India. There were several other incidents in the past as well.

Most airlines allow expectant mothers to travel until they are 36 weeks pregnant, but it's always best to consult a doctor beforehand.

Some airlines also require a letter from the passenger’s doctor if she is further along into her pregnancy. For instance, Emirates Airlines requires a medical certificate or letter from a doctor or midwife once a woman has passed her 29th week of pregnancy.

Free flights?

Contrary to popular belief, being born on an airplane doesn’t automatically grant you a lifetime of free tickets.

However, it has happened before with several airlines, including Thai Airways, Asia Pacific Airlines, Polar Airlines and Air Asia. Virgin Atlantic has also once given a baby free flights until the age of 21.

Nationality confusion

According to the United Nations, a baby born mid-flight will be considered as born in the country that the airline is registered in, but that doesn't grant them citizenship. Generally, the child will get the nationality of the parents.

However, it can get a bit complicated when this happens while flying over countries such as the United States and Canada, where babies born in the country are automatically extended citizenship. So it is theoretically possible to obtain citizenship if a baby is born in the airspace of those countries, but there are a lot of legalities and exceptions involved.