How should advance notice, escort, fitness-to-fly documentation, ticketing and airport coordination be planned for a stretcher patient on Turkish Airlines?
- Turkish Airlines asks for stretcher requests at least 48 hours before scheduled departure.
- A companion is required for stretcher travel and is ticketed separately.
- The Turkish/English medical report should be no more than 10 days old.
1. Planning Framework
According to Turkish Airlines’ current Sick and Disabled Passengers guidance, a stretcher request should be submitted at least 48 hours before the scheduled departure. A stretcher passenger must travel with an accompanying person, whose ticket is issued separately. Route, travel date, clinical status, stretcher requirement and escort arrangement should therefore be confirmed within the same operational file.
2. Operational Detail
A Turkish- or English-language physician report confirming fitness for air travel is required for stretcher travel. Turkish Airlines states that the report should be no more than 10 days old from its date of issue. It should include the required fitness wording and the physician’s identifying/signature information. If the clinical condition changes, a fresh assessment is safer than relying on an older report.
3. Coordination Point
A stretcher transfer is more than a ticketing transaction. Pickup location, ground ambulance, terminal access, check-in and special-service acceptance, cabin positioning, escort seating, destination airport and receiving ambulance need to be coordinated as one chain. Connecting itineraries require each segment to be assessed operationally.
4. Important Limitation
STAR does not issue approvals on behalf of the carrier and does not claim corporate affiliation with Turkish Airlines. The service focuses on coordinating the transfer file, medical documentation, ground logistics and medical staffing. Final carriage and special-service acceptance remain subject to the airline’s current procedures and approval.
Airline-procedure information in this article is based on Turkish Airlines’ Sick and Disabled Passengers page. Carrier rules can change and are re-checked before each operation.
Turkish Airlines official information page →This content provides general operational information and is not individual medical advice, an airline guarantee or a final fitness-to-fly decision. Clinical decisions belong to the treating healthcare professional; carriage and special-service approval are determined by the relevant airline.
