The Covid-19 pandemic has led to many countries putting restrictions on airlines and their destinations. Besides the previous health declaration or fit to fly certificates for certain passengers, some airlines insist on a Covid fit to fly certificate from all passengers who are booked to travel on their flights.
These are certificates from certified doctors or agencies that confirm that you have tested negative for the Covid-19 virus. Some airlines, especially where the travel is within a country, may only ask for the negative report from a certified laboratory, but most international travel requires the fit to fly certificates in addition. Some may even ask for a certificate of vaccination before you are allowed to travel.
A negative result on the Covid-19 virus is only valid for a few days and this is rarely more than 72 hours. So before you fly, you must ensure that you have yourself tested well in time so that it fits within your travelling schedule. Different airlines and countries have specified their own time windows and you must check on these before you travel, so that your certificate has the needed validity. Check on whether the fit to fly certificate is needed in addition to the negative test report.
A fit to fly certificate for Covid is only valid for the time that you have decided to fly, and it will not be valid, if you travel after a few weeks or a month, and you would require to go through the entire process of testing and obtaining the certificate every time that you decide to fly.
To get this certificate you will have to give the issuing authority all the required information of personal details, passport number if travelling abroad, and complete details of your flight, its date and time of departure, where you are flying to, and in the case of foreign travel, your port of entry and embarkation, and likely date of departure. Contact details are also a must. You may also be asked some questions about your medical history and present state of health, and contact with anyone diagnosed with Covid-19. International travellers will also have to indicate all the countries that they have travelled to in the 14 days prior to the application for the certificate, and relevant details of these journeys. Many countries have also adopted a digital Covid passport that can easily store all the information that pertains to Covid-19.
