Hamburg, April 25:

Air travel is safer for small children when they are in a car safety seat or similar device. Stating this, Martin Sperber from the Technical Inspection Association (TUEV) Rhineland, an independent German testing and certification age-ncy, told Hamburg-based magazine GEO Saison that simply using a seat belt or sitting on a parent’s lap was insufficient.

“Turbulence or especially an emergency landing could throw a child through the cabin,” he said. So before booking a flight, parents should enquire whether the airline allows car safety seats. Renting an inflatable safety seat offered by some companies was another option, Sperber said.

Airplane seat belts were generally designed for adults and too large for children under seven years of age, he noted.