Fit to fly certificate, signed by a UK GP

A fit to fly certificate is a short letter signed by a doctor confirming that you are medically well enough to travel by air. Airlines ask for one when something about your health could affect the flight — most commonly pregnancy after week 28, recovery from an infectious illness such as chickenpox, or a recent injury, operation or medical event. It is not a test and not a vaccination record. It is a clinical opinion, on headed paper, that you are safe to fly.

You can ask your own GP, or use a private online GP service. NHS GPs are not obliged to issue them, and many practices either decline or charge a private fee with a wait of one to two weeks. A private service reviews your details and returns a signed letter, usually the same day. Either way the letter must come from a registered doctor — you cannot write one yourself.

Not as an NHS service. Fit to fly letters fall outside the NHS GP contract, so a practice that agrees to write one is doing private work and can set its own fee. Many decline altogether, which is why most people end up using a private provider. We compare the two routes here.

Private fit to fly certificates in the UK generally run from about £25 to £100 depending on the provider and how quickly you need it. Ours start at £67. A GP practice doing it as private work will typically charge a similar amount, but usually takes longer.

There is no single expiry date — the airline sets the window. Ryanair wants the letter dated within two weeks of the flight, Jet2 within seven days of the outbound leg, Qatar Airways within ten days, Wizz Air within six days and Air India within 72 hours. British Airways and Emirates simply say “as close to travel as possible”. Check your airline’s window before you book the appointment, or you may need a second letter.

It depends entirely on the airline. There is no UK law requiring a fit to fly certificate — each airline sets its own rule in its conditions of carriage, and they genuinely differ. easyJet, for example, asks for no certificate at any stage of an uncomplicated pregnancy, while Ryanair requires one from week 28. Check your airline’s rule here before you pay for anything.

Then you get a letter saying so, and that letter has real value. A not fit to fly certificate is the medical evidence airlines, tour operators and travel insurers ask for when you need to cancel or claim. You are not charged twice.

A letter from a GMC-registered doctor on headed paper, containing what the airline asks for and dated inside its window, is what airlines are looking for. Some carriers — Ryanair, British Airways, Jet2 and Qatar Airways among them — publish their own form and prefer it completed. We can complete the airline’s own form where one exists; tell us the carrier when you book.