Runaway child, 7, boards plane without ticket

The little ‘runaway’ ran off from her parents near the main railway station in Geneva and caught a train to the airport, staying close to adults to make it look as though she was travelling with them, Geneva Airport said.

After a failed attempt to board an Air France flight, she then made it on board an Easyjet flight bound for Ajaccio in Corsica.

An Air France crew member had noticed the girl trying to board the first flight and got in touch with Easyjet, which then contacted the police.

Video footage shows the girl trying to follow crew members onto the first flight, and then slipping through a small gap to get to the second plane.

New measures will be put in place to check that children are accompanied by adults when they board flights to avoid a repeat of the “eminently regrettable” incident, the airport said, while stressing that the girl did go through security checks and no safety rules were breached.

The girl lives in Geneva. Her family contacted the police as soon as she ran off, and helped in the search for her, the Tribune de Geneve reported. No reason has been given for her running away.