The Ruling on Combining and Shortening Prayers at the Airport

Question:
May Allah reward him. Our master, the young Shaykh says: If you are at an airport in one of the countries and you prayed the midday prayer alone as two units, and then you want to pray the afternoon prayer, do you combine the afternoon prayer with it?

Answer:
Yes. If you are at an airport in a country other than your own, at an airport outside your country, then you are a traveler, so you shorten and combine. However, if the airport is in your own country, and you are preparing to travel from your country and you went out to the airport, then there is a distinction here. If the airport is inside the city, it is not permissible for you to shorten or combine, because you have not started your journey; you are still in the city. But if the airport is outside the city, then you have started your journey when you leave the city for it, so you have begun your travel, and it is permissible for you to combine and shorten. Yes.