But that’s exactly what happened earlier this month.
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A Cebu Pacific flight from Dubai to Manila made an emergency landing at Shamshabad International Airport near here after a Filipino passenger gave birth to a healthy baby girl in mid-air on Indian territory.
The new mum, who wasn’t set to give birth until October, gave fellow passengers on the eight-hour flight from Dubai to Manila a rare surprise when she gave birth to her baby while mid-flight. “She was already crowning, so she was brought to the more spacious area in front of the plane”. From there, the labour was reportedly short and sweet.
“Very lucky baby. since she was born in a Cebu Pac plane, she gets FREE TRAVELS FOR A LIFETIME with the airline”.
Other passengers came to the aid of the woman, donating spare children’s clothing items to dress the baby in after she was bathed in mineral water.
So the mom and newborn could receive medical attention the pilot ran an emergency landing. In celebration of the baby girl’s birth, the airline has awarded her and her family with one million, non-expiring “GetGo” points, which can be used to fly for free.
“You could call it an uneventful flight, if you want to. but it wasn’t, ‘” Missy Berberabe Umandal of Makati, Philippines, wrote to ABC News today.
Either way, that’s quite the “push present”.
Baby born on flight will now get to avail free tickets all her life!
As CNN notes, few global airlines mark a birth in the same way. Both mother and baby, who was born premature at 32 weeks, are being assisted by the airline’s customer care team.
“We might have misheard the name, but it sounded like the baby would be named ‘Haven'”.
So, a baby born mid-flight is usually permitted to either take on the citizenship of the country where the plane is registered, or the nationality of their parents.
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Each country has its own rules and regulations about what to do in these rare instances. In case you’re wondering, a baby born over the United States can claim USA citizenship.
