The short answer for parents: a licensed taxi or private hire car is one of the few places UK law lets a child ride without a car seat, but that is a legal fallback, not a safe plan for a motorway run to the terminal. Ask for the right seat when you book, give each child's age and rough height, and choose a vehicle with room for the pushchair. This guide covers what the rules actually say, which seat suits which age, and how to time the day so the airport part goes smoothly.
- UK law expects a child seat until age 12 or 135cm; taxis have a narrow exemption, so request seats for every child when booking.
- Give ages and heights, not just "two kids": a toddler, a four-year-old and a nine-year-old need three different seats.
- At Heathrow the pushchair is folded and screened at security, and most airlines let you keep it to the gate.
Do children need a car seat in a taxi?
Normally, yes. Government guidance says children must use a child car seat until they are 12 years old or 135 centimetres tall, whichever comes first (see Child car seats: the law). Taxis and minicabs are treated differently: if the driver does not provide the correct seat, a child aged 3 or over may travel in a rear seat using an adult belt, and a child under 3 may travel in a rear seat without a belt, according to GOV.UK's exemptions page.
That exemption exists so a family is never stranded, for example after an unplanned hospital visit. It says nothing about whether riding unrestrained on the M25 is a good idea. For a planned airport journey, the sensible reading is simple: book the seat. We fit child and booster seats on request, so tell us at the booking stage rather than on the doorstep.
Which seat suits which age?
The age your child is matters less than their height and weight, which is why we ask for both. As a rough guide to what the law allows:
- Under 15 months: height-based (R129) seats must face backwards until a child is over 15 months old.
- Toddlers to about four: a harnessed seat, forward or rear facing depending on the model and the child.
- School age up to 135cm: a high-backed booster that positions the adult belt across the shoulder and hips.
- 12 or over, or taller than 135cm: an adult seat belt on its own.
Approved seats carry an "E" in a circle with either R129 (height based) or ECE R44 (weight based) on the label. Two fitting rules catch people out: a child seat must never go on a side-facing seat, and a rear-facing baby seat can only go in the front if the airbag is switched off. In practice we fit seats in the rear rows, which avoids both issues.
If you would rather bring your own seats, that is fine too. Mention it when you book so the driver knows to leave time for fitting, and check whether your airline will carry the seat free or count it as luggage.
How many children, seats and cases can one car take?
Seats take up more room than people expect, and a folded pushchair is the item most often forgotten when choosing a car. A saloon such as the Mercedes-Benz E-Class seats four passengers with a 540-litre boot that suits two large cases, so a couple with one child and light luggage is comfortable. Three child seats across the back of a saloon rarely fit.
For most families the better answer is an MPV. The SEAT Alhambra has individually sliding middle-row seats, which helps when you need a booster next to a harnessed seat, though with all seven seats up its boot is small, so a family with big cases should book it in five-seat mode. The V-Class and Ford Tourneo keep genuine luggage space behind the last row. Our separate guide on how much luggage fits in an airport taxi goes through combinations in more detail.
What should parents tell us when booking?
A booking that works first time usually includes five details:
- Each child's age, and height if they are close to the 135cm booster cut-off.
- Whether you are bringing any seats of your own.
- The pushchair type: a compact cabin buggy or a full travel system with a separate carrycot.
- Number of hold cases, plus bulky extras such as a travel cot or a child's ride-on suitcase.
- Your flight number, so the return journey can be matched to the real landing time.
With that information we can pick the vehicle and have the seats ready before we arrive. Prices are fixed when you book, so adding seats or choosing a larger car is agreed up front rather than discovered on the day. The airport transfers page sets out how collections and returns work.
What happens at airport security with children?
Heathrow's own family travel guidance is a useful preview for children who have not flown before. Pushchairs, car seats and baby carriers all go through security checks, and pushchairs usually need to be folded before screening. Children who can walk on their own may go through the scanner by themselves; if a child cannot walk alone, you carry them through with you.
Most airlines let you use the pushchair in the terminal and take it to the gate, where it goes into the hold. Whether you get it back at the aircraft door or at baggage reclaim depends on the airline, so check before you travel if you have a long walk at the other end.
Drinks for the flight are less of a headache than they were. Heathrow says its upgraded scanners let passengers keep liquids in their cabin bag in containers of up to 2 litres (security and baggage). Other airports are not all the same: GOV.UK notes that most airports still limit containers to 100ml, so check the liquids rules for your departure airport and for the flight home.
How early should a family leave for the airport?
Work backwards from the airline's bag-drop deadline, then add time for the things only children cause: a last toilet stop, a lost shoe, a meltdown at the security tray. From Gerrards Cross, Heathrow is around 20–35 minutes by road, Luton around 50–65 minutes and Gatwick around 70–85 minutes, depending on traffic. Our guide to what time to leave for the airport from South Bucks has worked examples.
Once airside at Heathrow, every terminal has a free Stay & Play area, open daily from 06:00 to 21:00, and baby changing rooms sit both before and after security. That makes a slightly early arrival much easier to fill than an hour in a car park queue. For dawn flights, our 24-hour service collects at any time and a sleeping child can be lifted straight from bed into a fitted seat.
Which documents do children need for a trip abroad?
Each child travels on a passport of their own, babies included. A British child passport is for under-16s, lasts five years and costs £66.50 online or £80 on a paper form, according to GOV.UK. Because it expires after five years rather than ten, it is worth checking dates well before a summer booking.
For Schengen countries, the passport must have been issued less than 10 years before you arrive and be valid for at least 3 months after the day you leave. Under the EU's new Entry/Exit System, children aged 11 or younger do not have fingerprints scanned but may be photographed (see the France entry requirements page). If you travel during term time, school permission is a separate matter; our half-term travel guide covers the school holiday calendar in Buckinghamshire.
What about the journey home?
Children are at their most tired on the return leg, and delays hit hardest then. We track your flight and plan the collection around the actual landing time, and international arrivals include a free waiting period for passport control and baggage reclaim, as set out in our terms. Ask for the same seats on the return booking, because a car seat left at home on the outbound trip cannot be fetched from Terminal 5 at midnight.