Summary of potential risks posed by air travel in various conditions
| Condition | Risk |
| Asthma and COPD | Acute bronchospasm, hypoxaemia or infective exacerbation* |
| Bronchiectasis | Hypoxaemia, infective exacerbation* |
| Lung cancer | Hypoxaemia, overall deterioration or sepsis |
| Cardiac comorbidity | Myocardial ischaemia; hypoxaemia, arrhythmia, peripheral oedema, venous thromboembolism, worsening of heart failure |
| Hyperventilation and dysfunctional breathing | Acute exacerbation |
| Airborne infections | Hypoxia, transmission to other passengers |
| HIV infection | Exacerbation of pre-existing opportunistic infection |
| Interstitial lung disease | Hypoxaemia, infective exacerbation* |
| Neuromuscular disease and kyphoscoliosis | Hypoxaemia |
| OSAS | Worsening hypoxaemia when asleep, exacerbation of jet lag with potential adverse effect on driving |
| Obesity | Difficulty fitting into standard airline seats, worsening hypoxaemia in obesity hypoventilation syndrome, VTE |
| Pneumothorax | 38% expansion of residual air at 8000 ft (2438 m); possible recurrence within at least 1 year unless pleurodesis has beenperformed via thoracotomy |
| PAVMs | Hypoxaemia, stroke, VTE and PAVM haemorrhage |
| Sinus and middle ear disease | Sinus or middle ear barotraumas |
| Thoracic surgery | 38% expansion of residual air at 8000 ft (2438 m) |
| At risk of VTE | Increased risk of VTE on all flights especially those >8 h or following multiple shorter journeys over a short period |
* Infective exacerbation is possible because of proximity to others with contagious diseases (ie, resulting from direct person-to-person transmission).
COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; OSAS, obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome; PAVM, pulmonary arteriovenous malformation; VTE, venous thromboembolism.