If he stays fit enough to play, David Beckham's travel schedule over the next three and a half months — one long zigzagging contrail from Los Angeles to London by way of Moscow, Vienna and Kansas — will see him fly nearly 80,000 miles and swap time zones more than 20 times.

The itinerary, which only includes football matches for LA Galaxy and England and none of Beckham's commercial or sponsorship commitments, puts him in the busiest ranks of world fliers: up there with planet-crossing politicians but some way behind professional pilots, some of whom fly 50,000 miles a month.

Margaret Beckett, the former Cabinet Minister, was nicknamed the "Minister for Airmiles" after flying 102,673 miles between 2002 and 2005, but at the present rate, Beckham would overtake her total some time in January. It is possible that he will fly further in the month of November than the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall managed, together, during 2006.

Beckham remains some way behind Condoleezza Rice, the Unite States Secretary of State, who has covered 608,381 miles since being appointed by President Bush in December 2005. That's the equivalent of flying to the Moon, and back, adding four orbits of the Earth for good measure. In a little over 18 months, Ms Rice has spent 54 and a half days travelling.

Can Beckham's body take the strain? Dr Thomas Stuttaford, The Times medical columnist, says the former England captain, despite his natural fitness, will be much more prone to trivial injuries because of the erosion of his immune system caused by constant travelling:

"It is unlikely that David Beckham's coach at Los Angeles Galaxy, Alexei Lalas, would approve of his intended flight schedule," Dr Stuttaford says.

"Research carried out by medical scientists at Middlesex Hospital in London several years ago showed that all travellers, whether terrified novice passengers or seasoned cabin crew, suffered the effects of tension on flights. Tension caused their suprarenal glands to produce more of the stress hormone cortisol. Pulse rate and blood pressure rose, there were changes in the levels recorded of the cholesterol group of drugs and if any flyer had heart problems these were likely to be exaggerated.

"The dangers of flying can be divided into three groups. The immediate effects brought on by the tension of flying are likely to be induced by dehydration, the high altitude and pressurised cabins that decreases the availability of oxygen to passengers so that they may become breathless and there may be an increase in heart rate.They may also suffer gut distension and abdominal discomfort.

"The medium effects of recurrent flights include the ever present risks of deep vein thromboses (DVTs), blood clots and repeated jet lag.

"Jet lag affects those who cross several time zones. The effect of jet lag is worse for younger and middle age people when they travel eastwards, against the sun.

"The loss of a normal daily rhythm causes disruption of sleep patterns, head aches, poor concentration and loss of mental sharpness, which may affect Beckahm's performance if he is expected to play less than 24 hours after getting off a long distance flight.

"The concealed and often-ignored danger of long-term, constant flying is the possible failure of the suprarenal gland. The tensions of flying cause an overproduction of cortisol to an extent that eventually the gland begins to fail temporarily. The traveller then suffers severe fatigue, a lowered resistance as a result of a damaged immune system and an increased liability to pick up infections."

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