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Safety is a top concern when it comes to considering a pet move, and we’re confident in saying that yes, pet air travel is safe when you’ve taken all the necessary precautions. To start, this means choosing a pet-friendly airline whose cargo area is pressure and temperature-controlled and who has solid, established pet safe policies in place. Before you travel we also recommend talking with your vet about any health concerns, helping your pet get to a healthy weight through diet and exercise, and perhaps most importantly, working to crate train your pet well before the move.

Your pet will travel in a pressurized, heated and ventilated cargo hold inside the airplane, located just below the passenger compartments. Tie-down straps secure your pet\’s flight kennel to the deck of the cargo compartment. Your pets will be safe 🙂

A pet from North America travels in a plastic container while those from the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa travel in wooden boxes constructed to the dimensions of the pet. Regulations require that your pet be able to stand erect, turn comfortably and lie down with ease in the shipping container.

We recommend their usual blanket/pillow (something you aren’t afraid to lose and nothing too big and bulky) and a familiar soft object (such as a T-shirt or favourite toy as long as it is not an animal or meat product) along with the required water dishes.

Familiarise your pets with the flight kennel they will use a few days before the trip. Very importantly, there must always be water available before, during and after the journey. Water must always be available (which is why all travel boxes have a water bowl in it). As to food, however, it\’s actually best that most animals (including dogs and cats) travel on an empty (or close to empty) stomach. We understand that you worry your pet will be hungry, especially if it\’s a long-haul journey, but we ask that you trust this bit of very important advice: Do not feed your pet for at the very least 4 hours before you drop them off at the airport for departure, and preferably longer. We generally aim for about 8-10 hours. Unlike human beings who need (or feel they need) to eat regularly, many types of animal, including dogs and cats are very capable of and even comfortable with going without food for a good 24 hours. Of course we agree that this is not what you want to do every day but in an air-travel situation, we promise you that all your pets and animals will be just fine. In fact, they will be better than if you do feed them because of the dramatically reduced risk of toileting (urine and faeces) in their travel box, which means they stay cleaner and more comfortable overall. Reduced likelihood of nausea/vomiting in case they have any kind of reaction to the movement of their crate or as a result of anxiety (though it should be said that vomiting under any circumstances is quite rare). Sound scary? Try not to worry too much. This approach really does work very well indeed.

Many airports around the world offer animal care lounges, animal hotels, and animal transit facilities. Pets that require a transfer during their global journey are cared for between flights by dedicated airline animal care professionals who understand the needs of traveling and relocating family pets.

Not at all. Nothing should be administered that reduces their ability to respond to their environment. Veterinarians around the world recognise the inherent dangers of tranquilizers, sedatives and such because they may alter pets’ physiological responses to flight.

If you pre-flight condition your pet to the travel kennel and reduce food intake, stress is minimal and usually causes no post-flight effects. The captain of the aircraft flying your pet is given a manifest of what is aboard the aircraft during flight. The temperature of the animal cargo area is controlled by the captain and the flight crew, assuring safe transport of your family pet.