A passenger gave birth to a baby girl on board Ryanair flight from Brussels to Castellon de la Plana forcing diversion in France.
The Ryanair flight FR4797 departed Brussels South Charleroi Airport Thursday afternoon, May 8 to to Castellon de la Plana in Spain.
The flight, operated by a Boeing 737-800 with registration EI-EFO, departed at 13:30 CEST, perfectly on time, and climbed to 35,000 feet. But only few minutes after takeoff a pregnant young woman went into labor.
Between Belgium and Spain, the pilots urgently requested that the plane be diverted to the nearest available location. The aircraft was vectored to in Limoges, a regular destination for the airline.
After only 54 minutes of flight, The Boeing 737 landed at Limoges-Bellegarde Airport where firefighters were scrambled, not for a fire or a dramatic incident, but to help the woman give birth.
Upon arrival, they found that the young woman had given birth to a baby girl , thanks to the help of medical personnel on board.
The firefighters took over and took the mother and her little girl to the Mother and Child Hospital in Limoges. Both are doing well.
If this baby girl born in French airspace, can she acquire French nationality?
Being born in France, including during a flight that lands there, does not automatically grant nationality. France only grants automatic nationality at birth if at least one parent is French or in certain cases for children born in France to foreign parents, but these often require residency or other conditions.
If the baby is born in French airspace aboard an aircraft, or aboard a plane registered in France, it may influence legal interpretation but still does not guarantee French nationality.
If a baby is born to Indian parents on a plane that was diverted to Paris and lands there, the baby will not be French by birth—unless there are other qualifying conditions (e.g., the parents are settled in France).
