As a physician and regular traveller, I admit to being somewhat bemused by Ryanair’s recent call for passengers to stop travelling in jeans. The suggestion, shared via social media, isn’t a formal rule but a recommendation supposedly aimed at travellers’ comfort and circulation.
At first glance, telling flyers what to wear sounds like advice best left to lifestyle magazines, but there is a genuine health angle worth discussing here. Prolonged immobility is a recognised risk factor for impaired leg circulation. On flights - especially those longer than two hours - reduced movement with tight clothing can exacerbate blood pooling, a factor in the development of travel-related deep vein thrombosis (DVT), where clots form in the deep veins of the lower legs, and may cause serious complications. Signs of this most commonly include a hot, red, swollen or tender calf or lower leg.
Choosing looser clothing and staying active in the cabin does make medical sense and aligns with longstanding and widely accepted medical advice. That said, “denim” covers many fits. Relaxed jeans pose little risk; tight skinny cuts, denim or otherwise, may cause more restriction or discomfort, but blaming jeans as a category is simplistic.
Experts also stress that more legroom, more in-flight movement, and avoiding cigarettes and alcohol are also important ways to prevent DVT, although airlines rarely show the same zeal for circulatory health when it comes to providing increased seat space or restricting duty-free sales. My concern is that health messages used for tongue-in-cheek marketing risk being dismissed. Instead of telling people what not to wear, we should reinforce evidencebased guidance on moving, hydrating, and dressing comfortably, whatever the fabric.