Is it permissible for a traveler to pray on an airplane?

If the time for prayer arrives and the plane continues its flight, and one fears missing the prayer time before landing, it is obligatory to perform it on the plane to the best of one's ability, with bowing (ruku'), prostration (sujud), and facing the Qiblah. This is based on the Almighty's saying: (So fear Allah as much as you are able) and the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: (When I command you to do something, do of it as much as you are able).

However, if one knows that the plane will land with sufficient time before the prayer time expires, or if the prayer is one that can be combined with another, the majority of scholars have affirmed the permissibility of performing it on the plane. Conversely, some later Maliki scholars held the view that it is not valid on the plane, considering prayer on the ground a condition for its validity.