November 24, 2025, 3:38 pm | Read time: 5 minutes
The British company “Skytrax” regularly rates airlines and airports on its platform. Recently, it published a ranking of the best airlines for families. A German airline has made it to the top.
Children have needs. When these are met, a flight (and life) becomes more relaxed for the child, their parents, and sometimes even the surrounding passengers. Many airlines have recognized the special needs of families compared to solo travelers or couples and generally ensure that families sit together and that there are child-friendly meals and various entertainment options on longer flights. Many airlines also acknowledge that families, especially with small children, tend to have more luggage and often offer free transport of two items such as car seats, strollers, cribs, and the like. In some cases, families can even bring an extra piece of luggage for free.
Many airlines show an awareness of the needs of families and make flights correspondingly pleasant. But which airline is the most family-friendly of all? This is what a ranking by the comparison platform “Skytrax” has now revealed.
Overview
The world’s most family-friendly airline is …
… a classic in German airspace. The traditional company Lufthansa can crown itself as the world’s most family-friendly airline in 2025.
On the site worldairlineawards.com, “Skytrax” explains how the rating was determined. Airlines are evaluated based on various criteria regarding their family-friendliness. This includes whether they offer adjacent family seating and whether there are separate check-in areas and priority boarding for families. The evaluation also considers whether children have access to special menus, amenities, as well as toys, activity packs, and age-appropriate entertainment. “Skytrax” also mentions free checked baggage, policies for cribs and strollers, and supportive service from the staff as additional points.
All these criteria seem to have been best met by Lufthansa among all the airlines evaluated. We don’t know for sure, as “Skytrax” does not elaborate on the scores or details of each airline. A corresponding inquiry from TRAVELBOOK to “Skytrax” remained unanswered by the editorial deadline.
In general, “Skytrax” determines its awards from customer surveys. According to the platform, more than 100 nations participated in the passenger satisfaction survey 2024/2025 between September 2024 and May 2025. More than 325 airlines were evaluated in total. Respondents gave satisfaction ratings between 1 and 5 on various topics.
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The most family-friendly airlines in the ranking
From all the airlines evaluated, the ranking of the most family-friendly airlines emerged, with Lufthansa in first place. It is followed by several other renowned airlines, such as British Airways in second and Emirates in third place.
The 10 most family-friendly airlines worldwide
- Lufthansa
- British Airways
- Emirates
- Singapore Airlines
- Air Canada
- Qatar Airways
- ANA All Nippon Airways
- Cathay Pacific Airways
- EVA Air
- STARLUX Airlines
In the general comparison of the best airlines in the world, Lufthansa ranks 15th and 5th in Europe (TRAVELBOOK reported).
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These amenities Lufthansa offers for families
When asked directly how the airline secured the status of the world’s most family-friendly airline, we are still waiting for a response. Meanwhile, we explored the airline’s website and found several facilities that make flying with children easier, including topics like catering, seating, and baggage.
Catering
At Lufthansa, you can order special children’s menus, but this must be done up to 24 hours before the flight. Otherwise, children eat the same as adults. On flights within Europe, there is a snack box that also needs to be pre-ordered. Those flying with a baby can stock up on jars and soups on board a Lufthansa flight, but there is also the option to warm up brought jars and bottles.
Seating
“When traveling with children aged 2 to 11, we do our best to place your child next to an adult from your group,” says Lufthansa regarding seating. These are assigned free of charge at check-in, according to the airline. To ensure that you sit together as a family, you can reserve them in advance for a fee. While Lufthansa shows that it understands the issue, it does not fully accommodate families.
There is an exception for flights to and from Italy: Those traveling with a child between two and twelve years old are entitled to a free seat reservation. For flights to and from Canada, passengers can rebook or cancel if the airline cannot place a child “near an adult from the group.” How close that is remains unspecified.
Baggage
Regarding baggage, Lufthansa has different regulations depending on age and travel class. This section can be summarized as follows: For children from zero to two years old, families can bring an extra piece of luggage up to 23 kilograms, except for the Economy Light fare; from two years old, the same rules apply as for adults. Each child can bring an extra carry-on item for free, such as a car seat, a foldable bike trailer, a wagon, or similar.
In terms of baggage, Lufthansa is a bit stingier than its competitors, as it is common for many airlines to allow two items like a stroller and car seat for a smaller child. At Lufthansa, this seems to be allowed only in First and Business Class.
Entertainment
Lufthansa’s entertainment program includes various films for older generations as well as special films and series for children aged two to seven, teenagers, and even for babies or those aged zero to two. Additionally, the airline provides toys for its young guests, according to its own information.