(This article by Stephanie Montague originally appeared in the July 2026 issue of Military Officer, a magazine available to all MOAA Premium and Life members who can log in to access our digital version and archive. Basic members can save on a membership upgrade and access the magazine.)

Military space-available (Space-A) travel allows eligible passengers to fly on military aircraft using seats that remain after all space-required cargo and personnel have been accommodated.

If it’s been a while since you last flew Space-A, you might have missed important changes, including new eligibility, discontinued routes, and access to certain terminals. Understanding these updates will help you plan more effectively and set realistic expectations.

Here’s a look at the major changes in Space-A travel since 2020:

March 2020: Air Mobility Command (AMC) significantly restricted Space-A travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Only passengers on emergency leave and in other specific situations remained eligible to fly.

October 2020: Although Space-A travel was still restricted, the government published an update to DoD Instruction 4515.13, Air Transportation Eligibility, the regulation governing space-available passenger transportation. The update included several changes to Space-A Category 6, the lowest priority group of Space-A passengers, which now includes multiple subcategories:

• Dependents of veterans with a permanent service-connected disability rated as total (100% disabled veterans), reserve component members, and reserve component members entitled to retired pay at age 60 became eligible to accompany the sponsor. This change did not expand their geographic eligibility. Passengers in this subcategory may only fly Space-A within the U.S. and its territories, and they are ineligible for travel to foreign countries.
  
  
• Surviving spouses of servicemembers who died while on active duty or in a retired status became eligible to fly Space-A within the continental U.S. They were previously ineligible to fly Space A.

[MORE ELIGIBILITY DETAILS: AMC Space-A Travel]

April 2022: AMC removed pandemic-related restrictions and reopened Space-A travel to all eligible passengers. During this period, the command’s passenger terminals also began the transition from posting flight schedules and Space-A seat estimates on Facebook to doing so on official AMC websites. Most AMC terminals no longer maintain a Facebook page, though a few passenger terminals that do not fall under AMC still use it.

September 2022: AMC launched a test Patriot Express — also known as the rotator — route between the Baltimore/Washington International Airport’s (BWI’s) AMC terminal and Royal Air Force Mildenhall in the U.K. The Patriot Express is a chartered commercial flight primarily used to transport servicemembers and their families on official travel. The government schedules and funds these flights for duty passengers, and any unused seats are released to Space-A travelers.

[MORE DETAILS: AMC Travel Site]

Fall 2022: Space-A travel to Naval Station (NAVSTA) Rota in Spain was restricted after the Spanish government stated the naval air station is not an approved port of entry into the country nor the European Union. Only passengers assigned to Spain on official orders may fly Space-A to NAVSTA Rota from outside Europe.

Travelers who enter Europe through an official port of entry and complete passport control may fly Space-A to NAVSTA Rota from another base in Europe. As of this writing, Space-A travel from NAVSTA Rota is not restricted.

January 2024: AMC discontinued the Patriot Express route between BWI and RAF Mildenhall due to low use by duty passengers. Cargo missions from the U.S. to RAF Mildenhall rarely appear on published flight schedules, but Dover AFB is the most likely location to have them.

October 2025: AMC discontinued several additional Patriot Express routes due to low use by duty passengers. These included routes from Naval Station Norfolk to bases in Spain, Italy, and Greece as well as the route from BWI to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. Although that air base was not an authorized destination for most Space-A passengers, the routes to the Mediterranean were open and very popular. They also provided the only consistent option to fly Space-A directly from the U.S. to those countries.

With the Norfolk routes eliminated, NAVSTA Rota has become difficult to reach from the U.S. Even for passengers who meet entry requirements, limited flight availability now makes access challenging. Military passenger terminals rarely publish cargo missions to Rota, and those missions seldom release seats to Space-A travelers.

Ramstein Air Base in Germany is now the most accessible Space-A destination in Europe. The rotator from BWI to this base continues to operate one or two times per week, and several East Coast bases have regular cargo missions there.

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Travelers who want to visit Spain, Italy, or Greece can fly Space-A to Ramstein Air Base and, if they don’t catch another “hop” to their destination country, continue onward by train or commercial air.

Space-A travel remains one of the most valuable benefits available to eligible military travelers, but recent changes have made it more important than ever to understand how the system works today. Understanding these changes can make the difference between a successful trip and a frustrating experience.

Stephanie Montague is the founder of the military travel website Poppin’ Smoke and a military spouse.