Most passengers never need one. Airlines ask in a handful of situations: pregnancy from week 28 or 29, recent surgery, a fresh plaster cast, a visibly infectious illness, a recent heart event or supplemental oxygen. Check yours below; if the airline wants a letter, a doctor on Mobi Doctor can see you over video usually within 15 minutes.
Or plan by dates. Enter your due date and flight dates: the planner works out how pregnant you will be on each flight, whether that flight is allowed, whether a letter is needed for each leg, and the dates a letter must be signed between so it is still valid on the way home.
Copy the flight lines from the airline’s confirmation email (flight number, date, times) and paste them here. It is read in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere.
Enter your flight number and the dates above (or a route), and the planner fills in the airline — the operating carrier on a codeshare — and the flight time from the published schedule.
Or by route: to on the outbound date.
Choose a situation to see whether you need documentation.
You need a fit-to-fly certificate only when your airline's rules say so or its medical department asks for one. That means an uncomplicated pregnancy from week 28, 29 or 32 at 18 of 30 European airlines, a fresh cast, recent surgery, a visibly infectious illness, a recent heart attack, stroke or seizure, and any journey needing oxygen or a stretcher, which needs a MEDIF form instead.
Fit to fly is a carriage decision, not a diagnosis. Under UK CAA guidance, the final decision on whether to carry a passenger rests with the airline, and the treating doctor's role is to give the carrier adequate detail about the condition, its stability and any medication before departure. A fit-to-fly certificate is the written form of that assessment: a dated, signed statement from a licensed doctor or midwife that you are fit for a particular journey; the fit-to-fly certificate page sets out what it must contain. The CAA figures below are minimums for an uncomplicated recovery; your own surgeon or cardiologist may want longer.
| Situation | Typical requirement | Who decides | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uncomplicated pregnancy | Letter from week 28, 29 or 32 at 18 airlines; none at 8 | Airline, at check-in or boarding | Airline pages |
| Abdominal surgery | 10 days | Surgeon | CAA surgical |
| Laparoscopy or colonoscopy | About 24 hours | Surgeon | CAA surgical |
| Fresh plaster cast | 24 hours (flight under 2 hours) or 48 hours, unless split | Airline | CAA surgical |
| Heart attack or stent | 7 to 10 days; stent about 3 days | Cardiologist; airline | CAA cardiovascular |
| Pneumothorax | About 2 weeks after drainage | Respiratory team | CAA respiratory |
| Chickenpox | Once every spot has crusted, usually 5 to 7 days | Airline, on a letter | CAA guidance |
| Seizure, stroke or TIA | Seizure 24 hours; stroke 10 days to 2 weeks; TIA 2 days | Airline medical department | CAA neurology, cardiovascular |
| Anaemia | Fine above 8 g/dl; assessment below 7.5 g/dl | Treating doctor | CAA haematological |
| Scuba diving | 12 to 18 hours after one no-decompression dive; 24 hours after repetitive dives | You | CAA guidance |
| Supplemental oxygen | MEDIF, 48 to 72 hours ahead where published | Airline medical department | CAA respiratory |
Pregnancy is by far the commonest reason. Twelve airlines require a letter from week 28 (British Airways and Ryanair among them), four from week 29 (TUI, Condor, Emirates, Qatar Airways) and two from week 32 (Finnair on flights over 6 hours, and LOT). Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian and Eurowings only recommend one, and eight, including easyJet, KLM and Air France, ask for nothing in an uncomplicated pregnancy; the flying while pregnant guide and the airline pregnancy rules comparison give every cut-off. Recent operations, with the CAA waiting times by procedure, are covered on the flying after surgery page.
Usually, but not straight away. The CAA advises restricting flying for 24 hours after a plaster cast is applied if the flight is under 2 hours, and 48 hours for longer flights, because a fresh injury keeps swelling and air trapped under a rigid cast expands as cabin pressure falls. The alternative is a cast split along its length, which fracture departments do routinely for travel; have the split noted on your letter. The CAA also asks anyone injured in the 7 days before travel to contact the airline, chest injuries especially.
Airlines refuse passengers who are visibly unwell with something contagious, and the crew's judgement at the gate is final. The CAA's respiratory guidance says active infection makes a passenger unsuitable for travel until it is under documented control, and that viral infections should postpone travel until resolved. For chickenpox the rule in CAA guidance is that you may fly once every spot has crusted over, usually 5 to 7 days after the rash first appears. If you are too ill to travel and need evidence for your insurer, that is a not-fit-to-fly letter, a different document.
The CAA's cardiovascular figures: 7 to 10 days after an uncomplicated heart attack, with a complicated one ruled out for 4 to 6 weeks; about 3 days after an uncomplicated angioplasty with a stent; and 10 to 14 days after coronary bypass surgery. For stroke the CAA's pages differ, the cardiovascular page saying 10 days, or 3 if stable, and the neurology page at least 2 weeks, with 2 days after a TIA; take the stricter figure unless your consultant advises otherwise. After a seizure, wait at least 24 hours and carry emergency medication; uncontrolled or new-onset epilepsy needs airline clearance. A recent DVT has no fixed CAA interval; the airline's medical department decides.
A MEDIF (Medical Information Form) is the airlines' clearance form, not a certificate you carry. Your doctor completes the medical part and the airline's medical department clears you, with conditions if needed, or declines. You need one for oxygen, a stretcher, an escort, an unstable condition or a pregnancy outside the airline's rules; the CAA's test for cabin oxygen is whether you can walk 50 metres at a normal pace or climb a flight of stairs without severe breathlessness. Lead times matter: LOT and Finnair want the MEDIF at least 72 hours before departure, TAP and Emirates 48 hours, Qatar Airways between 48 hours and 7 days, and most other carriers publish no deadline.
Doctors on Mobi Doctor are EU-licensed, available daily 7am–11pm CET, and you see one over video usually within 15 minutes. The appointment costs €57 + €10 for the certificate and is a full consultation: the doctor reviews your history and, if they confirm you are fit to fly, signs the certificate, which is emailed to you after the consultation; the doctor also completes any airline form, and advice or a prescription for anything else is covered by the same appointment. If the doctor does not consider you fit, no certificate is issued. Airlines accept a letter from any licensed doctor or midwife, so it works wherever you are in the EU. For prescription medicines, use the medication checker.
No. A fit-to-fly certificate is a letter you carry and show at check-in or boarding. A MEDIF is a clearance form the airline's medical department processes in advance for oxygen, stretchers, unstable conditions or a pregnancy outside the standard rules.
Any licensed doctor can, and for pregnancy British Airways, Ryanair, Jet2, TUI and Emirates also accept a midwife; none of the 30 airlines in this hub requires a GP from a particular country. Turkish Airlines wants Turkish or English; airBaltic and Norwegian want English.
Only as long as the airline says: Wizz Air wants a pregnancy certificate issued within 6 days of the flight, Jet2, Croatia Airlines and Pegasus within 7, Condor, Turkish Airlines and Qatar Airways within 10, TUI, airBaltic and LOT within 14, and SAS within 30.
The airline has the final word, so a certificate cannot override its cut-offs: Turkish Airlines refuses anyone who has reached week 36 even with a note. Ask for the reason in writing, because an insurance claim will need it.
Ryanair, yes: from week 28 its Expectant Mother form, completed by a midwife or doctor, must be shown to the cabin crew at boarding, and travel stops after week 36. easyJet, no, but it carries you only to the end of week 35, or week 32 with twins.
Not straight after. CAA guidance gives 12 to 18 hours after a single no-decompression dive and 24 hours after repetitive dives or any dive with decompression stops. No airline checks, but decompression sickness at altitude is a medical emergency.
General information, not medical advice — always confirm with your airline before you travel.
