If a baby is born on an airplane over the ocean, what is his/her nationality?

Answer 1

The child would receive the nationality of the parents. Here is what determines nationality of children born on planes:

Most countries have rules set up so that the child will only acquire the nationality of the parents, such as the rules of many European and African countries. That means that just because a baby is born on a French plane (we'll use France as an example for this question), the baby would not receive French citizenship unless at least one of the parents was French, or the family had been living in France for a period of some years. The baby would only acquire the nationality of the parents. This is known as Jus Sanguinis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_sanguinis

The US, for example, has laws set up so that a child born on a plane inside the US, or flying over it's territories would acquire US citizenship. In cases where the baby is born over US territories (and the parents are not US citizens), the baby would be born with dual citizenship - the nationality of the parents, and American citizenship. This is known as Jus Soli. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_soli
http://foia.state.gov/masterdocs/07fam/07m1110.pdf Section 7FAM1116.1-3 AIRSPACE paragraph a

In the case of French citizenship, citizenship is based on a mixture the principles of Jus Sanguinis and Jus Soli. In other words both place of birth and French parentage are relevant for determining whether a person is a French citizen. However, if both parents are not French, then they can only request French citizenship for their child once the child reaches adulthood, instead of being automatically accorded it at birth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_nationality_law


Next thing you are probably curious about is the city of birth. This is complicated as almost every country in the world, as well as the United Nations, has procedures and recommendations for how to properly classify the geographic details of an in-air birth. The United Nations considers a child born in-flight to have been born in the airplane's registered country. Some countries point to the city where the child first disembarked the plane as the place of birth. As each country and airline have differing rules and regulations on this, there is no clear-cut answer.

People also report that children born on planes get free airfare for life. This is not true. Even if a baby is born in a plane, there have only been two recorded incidents where the baby was allowed free passage for life. This is a rarity, and NOT the norm.

Also, many airlines (not all) have restrictions on pregnant women that highly reduce the probability of women giving birth on a plane. It does happen, but is rare.

I have written articles on air travel, and at the end of one of my articles, it talks about children who are born on planes. If you would like to read it for reference, here is the URL: http://jamiehassen79.angelfire.com/pregnant_travel.html


If I can be of any more help or assistance, please feel free to contact me.

Answer 2

in accordance to the UN, the toddler is seen born interior the U. S. because of the fact the airline is registered interior the U. S.. because of the fact the daddy is a sparkling Zealand citizen, the toddler would have twin citizenship.