Baby born on plane could fly free for life

The baby was born around five hours into the flight. Photo / Facebook, Missy Berberabe Umandal

As we head into a new year, we're revisiting some of 2016's most popular Travel stories. This was one of them ...

A baby born unexpectedly on a plane may receive free flights for life.

Missy Umandal was on a Cebu Pacific flight from Dubai to the Philippines with her mother on August 14, when another passenger started having contractions around five hours into the journey.

She shared her account of the "extraordinary moment" on Facebook.

"Flight attendants started calling for medical assistance,and luckily, there were two nurses among the passengers. She was already crowning, so she was brought to the more spacious area in front of the plane," she wrote.

"We only heard one semi-loud screech, and a few seconds later, there were tinier, cute screeches, and it was when we knew the baby was born."

As the baby had reportedly arrived two months early, the plane was diverted to India for an emergency landing so the mother and child could receive medical attention, she wrote.
Despite a nine hour flight becoming 18 hours long, Umandal said everyone on the plane felt "blessed" by what happened.

While the baby's birthplace would be recorded as India, her citizenship would still be Filipino as the airline is registered there.

Umandal also claimed the baby would receive free flights for life.

While it is a common belief that those born on flights are given these special perks, CNN reported that only Thai Airways, Asia Pacific Airlines, AirAsia and Polar Airlines have done so, while Virgin Atlantic granted one baby free flights until the age of 21.

- nzherald.co.nz