Mongolia’s national airline, MIAT, on Thursday this week – 15 August 2020 –  gave a certificate of free lifetime tickets to twin baby girls born midair onboard the carrier, last month as well as their mother.

The Birth

The twins were born on a chartered MIAT flight from Istanbul, Turkey to Mongolia’s capital Ulan Bator on July 9. They were born two months early.

The babies and their 42-year-old mother are now in good health. However, the aircraft was forced to turn back after the woman gave birth mid-air, about 30 minutes after take-off, a statement by the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDC) in Abuja revealed.

On arrival at the diversion airport, the other passengers were transferred to another aircraft, which took off after a four-hour delay. They then reached their final destination of Ulan Bator later that day.

Is this a usual occurrence?

This is the first time in the history of Mongolian civil aviation that a woman has given birth on an international flight, according to the carrier. As a token of history, the airline decided to grant the lifetime flight offer. However, the gift of lifetime freebies or discounts, is not a rarity in the aviation industry.

Spirit Airlines in the US announced in 2017 that it will offer a free flight each year to any child who was born onboard their aircraft. Similarly Indian Jet Airways also offered free flights for life for a baby born in 2017, while a child born onboard Cebu Pacific received a million air miles as a birthday gift.

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