When someone travels by air and has to be present at the airport two hours before departure, is he permitted to combine two prayers before going to the airport? The time of departure is 7:00 pm, Maghrib is at 5:00 pm, ‘Ishaa’ is at 7:30 pm and he arrives at his destination three hours before Fajr.

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

A traveler is not permitted to use the concessions of travel until he first initiates it and passes the (last of the) buildings of the place of departure. Consequently, if the airport is far from these buildings, he is permitted to combine and shorten the prayer at the airport. If the airport is within the vicinity of these buildings, it is impermissible to do so. Rather, he has to perform the Maghrib and ‘Ishaa’ prayers at the airport, each in its fixed time.