Flying with O2

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone here has any experience of flying with oxygen? I've just failed my fitness to fly test and been told I need oxygen to fly.

I'm planning on possibly doing a long haul flight in the summer probably to travel round Russia. I was told by one of the specialist nurses that some airlines will provide it free of charge with a consultants letter (?virgin) but most charge for it.

Anyone have any idea about the logistics of organising it?

Ta,

Sxx

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I have had mixed experiences of flying with oxygen.

With British Airways and Zoom (now extinct!), you were simply sent a form for your GP to complete, stating why you needed oxygen, the flow rate and that you were fit to fly. This needed to be done several weeks in advance, and they often limit the number of passengers with oxygen on each flight so you need to get in touch early to ensure everything is put in place. Zoom charged for hte supplementary oxygen, BA did not.

See half-way down this page for more info: phassociation.uk.com/living...

On the other hand, I recently flew with Wizz, a Hungarian cheap company. Their website says (like EasyJet and FlyBe) that passengers can take their own oxygen. I contacted them in advance and confirmed that a small BOC cylinder would be ok. There was no additional charge. EVerything should have run smoothly, but in fact I wasn't in the end allowed to board with the cylinder and on the way back I suffered a pneumothorax. I'm sure this was unrelated, but it does show that, particularly with the smaller companies, it really is worth checking again and again that everything is sorted and that ground crew, security etc are all aware.

Good luck!

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When do you need a fitness to fly test? I have never heard of one.

Plumie