Airline pregnancy rules compared: 30 European airlines' fit-to-fly letter weeks, cut-offs and letter validity

Key facts

• Eighteen of the 30 airlines require a pregnancy letter: 12 from week 28, 4 from week 29 and 2 from week 32.
• Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Eurowings only recommend a letter from week 28; eight airlines require none for an uncomplicated pregnancy.
• Seventeen airlines carry a single pregnancy to the end of week 36, nine stop at the end of week 35 and Wizz Air stops at week 34.
• Eleven airlines cap the letter's age, from 6 days at Wizz Air to 30 days at SAS.
• Every figure was read on the airline's own website on 24 September 2026, and each table row links to its source.

The short answer

There is no single European rule. The largest group of airlines wants a letter from week 28, four (TUI, Condor, Emirates and Qatar Airways) from week 29, and two from week 32: LOT, and Finnair on flights longer than 6 hours. Most carry a single pregnancy to the end of week 36 and twins to the end of week 32, but nine airlines stop at 35, Wizz Air at 34, and 11 cap the letter's age at between 6 and 30 days. Check all three rules against each flight date.

How do I read the table, and what if my flight is a codeshare?

Letter from is the first week in which paperwork is required rather than recommended. Last week is inclusive in this hub's counting: to the end of week 36 means 36 weeks plus 6 days, and not accepted from week 36 is the same boundary a week earlier. Few airlines define the day (Finnair does, and its 36th week ends at 35 weeks + 6 days), so if a flight falls in the boundary week, get the airline's written confirmation; the date planner flags that week for your own dates. Letter max age counts the days from the doctor's signature to your flight. Count the week at the date of each flight; it is the return that catches people. Not published means the airline says nothing on the point; ask it directly. On a codeshare, the operating carrier's rules apply at the gate, and your booking names that carrier.

Which airlines require a fit-to-fly letter, and from which week?

The week-28 group is the largest: British Airways, Ryanair, Jet2, Wizz Air, Vueling, Iberia, Aer Lingus, TAP Air Portugal, Brussels Airlines, Croatia Airlines, airBaltic and Turkish Airlines. Four start a week later, from week 29: TUI, Condor, Emirates and Qatar Airways. Two wait until week 32: Finnair, which asks only on flights longer than 6 hours, and LOT, which uses a MEDIF. Details vary: Ryanair checks the letter at boarding, Aer Lingus sets its bands by route, and Brussels Airlines' two pages disagree on whether the clearance is recommended or required, so take the stricter reading.

Which airlines only recommend a letter, and which need none?

Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Eurowings recommend an up-to-date certificate from week 28 without requiring one. Eight airlines require nothing in an uncomplicated pregnancy. easyJet does not treat pregnancy as a medical condition, KLM advises stopping at 36 weeks, Air France recommends a doctor's opinion and asks you to avoid travel from week 37, Transavia wants a certificate only after complications, AEGEAN publishes no requirement, Pegasus says no report is required yet also describes a 7-day report, so carry one, and SAS and Norwegian count backwards from the due date: between 4 and 2 weeks before it you may fly only on flights under 4 hours with a certificate, and from 2 weeks before not at all. Recommended still means worth carrying, because ground staff can ask.

What is the 35-versus-36-week trap?

Seventeen airlines carry a single pregnancy to the end of week 36. Nine stop a week earlier, at the end of week 35: easyJet, Jet2, Vueling, Iberia, Austrian, Turkish Airlines, Croatia Airlines, Aer Lingus and KLM. Wizz Air stops at week 34. Finnair goes the other way, allowing flights of 2 hours or less up to the end of week 38. SAS and Norwegian publish no week at all, only the due-date rule, and LOT no maximum. A return flight at 36 weeks and 1 day with Jet2 is a refused return. The flying while pregnant guide works through the arithmetic.

How old can the letter be?

Eleven airlines cap the letter's age, and the shortest window is only 6 days. Others use words: British Airways and Finnair want it dated as close to travel as possible, Vueling's authorisation must state its own validity dates, and Jet2 adds a second condition, that the letter is also signed within 16 days of the return date. The practical rule is to book the consultation inside the shortest window that covers both flights, counting back from the return date rather than the outbound.

Which airlines have their own form, and who must sign?

British Airways, Ryanair, Jet2, Aer Lingus, Finnair, airBaltic and Qatar Airways each publish a form; Lufthansa has its statement form, Brussels Airlines a clearance certificate, and Condor accepts only its own MEDIF A, carried with proof of the due date. SAS and LOT use the standard MEDIF; TAP and Emirates ask for one only when the pregnancy is complicated. British Airways, Ryanair, Jet2, TUI and Emirates accept a doctor or a midwife; Aer Lingus, Iberia, Condor, Croatia Airlines and Qatar Airways say your doctor; Lufthansa's form is written for a gynaecologist. Turkish Airlines wants the note in Turkish or English with the doctor's licence number; airBaltic wants English, as does Norwegian on international flights. Finnair accepts a midwife's or maternity nurse's signature only in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The fit-to-fly certificate page explains how the doctor completes each form.

What about twins and multiple pregnancies?

Where a limit is published it is usually the end of week 32, but not always: Jet2 allows twins to the end of week 33, Transavia to 34, and Vueling, Iberia and Turkish Airlines only to 31. Ten airlines publish no multiple-pregnancy week at all: KLM, Air France, Aer Lingus, SAS, Norwegian, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, LOT, AEGEAN and Croatia Airlines. SAS frames multiples by due date instead (a certificate from 12 weeks before it, no flying from 8 weeks before), and LOT wants a MEDIF at any stage. Never assume the single-pregnancy week carries over.

How was this data verified?

Each rule was read on the airline's own page on 24 September 2026; 19 rows are fully verified and 11 are marked partial because the airline publishes an incomplete rule. Every row links to the page it came from. If an airline changes a rule, report it through the correction page linked from every airline page and the row is corrected within two business days. The dataset may be reused under CC BY 4.0 with the attribution Mobi Doctor European Travel Health Hub. The fit-to-fly guide covers every other reason an airline asks for a letter.

Which airline pages are clearest, and where is the change history?

The Clarity Index 2026 scores each of these 30 pages on seven traveller questions and ranks them; the rule changes log records every correction to this table, dated, with the value before and after, and will record any airline that changes a limit between two of our readings.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Wizz Air — Special assistance — accessed 24 September 2026
• Jet2.com — Assisted travel and medical FAQs — accessed 24 September 2026
• SAS — Health and medical — accessed 24 September 2026
• Finnair — Travelling while pregnant — accessed 24 September 2026
• Brussels Airlines — Pregnancy — accessed 24 September 2026
• LOT Polish Airlines — Pregnant women — accessed 24 September 2026
• UK CAA — Pregnancy — accessed 24 September 2026
• NHS — Travelling in pregnancy — accessed 24 September 2026