Travelling with children is stressful, from carrying extra luggage with pushchairs and bassinets to flight delays and unexpected changes of plan. Children can get bored and restless, and with the stresses of handling multiple boarding passes and passports, it can get downright overwhelming for parents. To avoid these hurdles on your travels, we wanted to investigate which international and US airports were the most suited to families.

The best way to ensure that your journey is smooth and stress-free is to make sure you are flying with a reliable airline. We looked into on-time departure times and cancellation rates for 50 of the biggest airports worldwide. Checking cancellation rates is often the last thing on a parent’s mind, but choosing to fly from an airport with the most delays could completely ruin your vacation.

There are several other factors to consider when travelling, such as navigating the best airports for food to keep the kids happy and planning how early you should get to the airport. You may need to consider the extra time if you’d like to leave the airport during a layover. Coincidentally, we also analyzed the number of airport amenities and restaurants so that both children and adults are entertained.

The wonders of technology can thankfully distract your children while being delayed at the airport; that’s why using an airport with free and unlimited WiFi is something to think about. As such, we looked at each airline to discover which offered the best WiFi availability.

Our research was not just restricted to airports. We also investigated some of the biggest airlines in the world on their family-friendly factors, such as free kids’ entertainment, onboard child meals, and pre-boarding for families.

The Most Family-Friendly Airports in the World

Flying internationally can be rather daunting, but domestic flights can be just as exhausting as flying overseas. By opting for a reliable and family-friendly airport, you can ease some of the pressures and prevent any airport jitters.

1. Mexico City Juarez International Airport

Mexico City, Mexico

Family-Friendly Score: 9.87 out of 10

Mexico City International Airport is the main international airport serving Greater Mexico City and is one of the busiest in the country, featuring on-site hotels and a vast array of shops and restaurants. This busy airport scored first place in the ranking for the best airports with a score of 9.87 out of 10.

Mexico City International Airport scored most notably for its low cancellation rates (1.30%) as well as its extensive list of things to do, of which there were 74, including shops, an onsite gym, and even sleeping pods for weary mothers. The airport offers free unlimited WiFi connection and 100 dining options for travellers.

2. John F. Kennedy International Airport

New York, United States

Family-Friendly Score: 9.87 out of 10

In joint first place is New York’s JFK Airport, with a score of 9.87 out of 10. The airport was named in memory of the 35th President of the United States, and on average, the airport sees 1,200 departures every day.

JFK airport was constructed to reduce the volume of traffic in LaGuardia, which had higher cancellation rates than JFK. The airport had low cancellation rates of just 1.60% on its flights and boasts 108 amenities, including a spa and children’s play area. Passengers can also take advantage of the airport’s free and unlimited WiFi.

3. O’Hare International Airport

Illinois, United States

Family-Friendly Score: 9.74 out of 10

The O’Hare International Airport is the main airport serving Chicago and Illinois and scored third place in the running for the most family-friendly airports. O’Hare has nine runways, the most of any international airport in the world.

The Illinois airport had the highest number of on-time departures out of all airports in the top three, with 79.5% leaving on schedule. O’Hare benefits from a variety of dining options with 68 eateries, as well as 52 other things to do, including an art gallery where you can find sculptures, murals, paintings, and more. There is also a yoga room to help stretch your legs during a long-term layover.

4. Philadelphia International Airport

Pennsylvania, United States

Family-Friendly Score: 9.61 out of 10

Philadelphia International Airport, the primary airport serving the state, placed fourth in the ranking, scoring 9.61 out of 10. The Pennsylvania airport witnessed 19.6 million passengers in 2021, making it the 21st busiest airport in the US.

The airport had the highest on-time departure record in the US, with 86.5% of its flights being on-schedule in 2022. There are 41 things to do at the airport and 64 eateries, including the popular quick-bites restaurant Tony Luke’s, which offers its famous Philly cheesesteak sandwiches.

5. St. Paul International Airport

Minnesota, United States

Family-Friendly Score: 9.47 out of 10

Minnesota’s St. Paul International Airport is the fourth US airport on our list to make the cut, with a score of 9.47 out of 10. The Saint Paul airport is a joint civil-military public airport located in Fort Snelling, Minnesota.

The airport fell short due to its higher rates of cancelled flights (4.40%) but made up for this with the high number of amenities available, with 56 things to do. The 47 dining options include bakeries that serve tasty pastries and cakes, as well as the Hi-Lo Diner, which serves classics like burgers and shakes.

our research reveals these to be the 5 most family-friendly airports in the world in 2023.

The Most Family-Friendly Airlines in the World

We also wanted to look at the most family-friendly airlines and rated the 35 biggest global airlines on eight family-related factors. The only factor offered by all airlines was the amenity of taking on a pushchair for free, while all the other amenities are scattered between the airlines, with all our top 20 airlines offering a mix and match of family-friendly amenities. Over and above our rating guide, some airlines offer free or discounted tickets to kids.

Japan Airlines was the highest-scoring airline for its family-friendly amenities and scored 15 out of 18 in the ranking, scoring eight out of ten for seat comfort, but did lose a point for added lap fees for infants.

The runners-up were Korean Air and Hainan Airlines, which both scored 14 out of 18 in the ranking. The airlines had an impressive seat comfort score of 8 out of 10 and offered free checked bag allowances. The airlines provided priority boarding to families and offered kids’ meals, entertainment, and onboard bassinets. Both airlines, unfortunately, lost a point as they did not offer free seat selection and charged lap fees for infants.

Methodology

We created a list of 77 of the biggest international airports in the world from GetToCentre.com. The airports were analyzed on their family-friendly qualities, looking at their on-time departure and cancellation percentages (taken from OAG.com), whether they offered free and unlimited Wi-Fi, and how many options families have of where to eat and what to do (taken from Tripadvisor or from the airport’s website where Tripadvisor data was not available). Airports and airlines in Turkey were excluded from the ranking owing to ongoing situations within the country. This data is accurate as of 20/03/23.

We also looked at 34 of the biggest global airlines to see which airlines were the most family-friendly, looking at several factors deemed to be family-friendly. All information was sourced from the individual websites of each airline, with the following exceptions:

Please note that the rankings are just based on the information that is available online. If there was no evidence that an airline offers a service then we have deemed that they don’t.

The seat comfort ratings were retrieved from Skytrax on 20/03/23.

The Amenities we used to compare airlines were Free seat selection

(Whether or not the airline allows passengers to select their own seat on the plane, free of charge); Free checked baggage (Whether or not the airline allows passengers to check in at least one piece of checked baggage free of charge); Pre-boarding for families

(Whether or not the airline allows families with children to board the plane before general boarding, but not necessarily before first and business-class passengers); No ‘lap fees’

(Whether or not the airline charges a ‘lap fee’ or ‘infant fare’ for an infant to sit on a passenger’s lap for the flight); Kids meals (Whether or not the airline offers a specific children’s meal option); Free kids entertainment (Whether or not the airline offers free in-flight entertainment that has options specifically tailored for children); On-board bassinet/carrycot (Whether or not the airline offers onboard bassinets or carrycots for babies. Note that these usually have to be pre-booked and are often only available in limited numbers); Take pushchair for free (Whether or not the airline allows pushchairs/strollers to be taken on board as a free part of your checked baggage allowance).

The family-friendly rating was calculated by adding up each score out of 18 for each airline, where each yes is equal to 1 point. For example, a score of 18 would have a yes in all eight amenities and a 10/10 comfort score.

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James Brockbank

Founder at The Family Vacation Guide

A seasoned traveller, Dad, and avid sports tourist, James foundered The Family Vacation Guide to share his expert vacation experiences- especially when it comes to being a travelling family man.

Featured in Travel articles such as Travel + Leisure, TripSavvy and SFGate, you know you're reading some of the best vacation tips online.

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