The UK has some special measures for pet transport in flight. So on an international flight to or from the UK, you will get different standards from other countries which any pet passenger has to follow to get permission for their pet entry to the UK.
British Airways is one such UK-based airline, which accepts pet transport under certain guidelines of British Airways pet policy along with requirements of the UK’s pet travel scheme. British Airways understand the value of your pet in your family and thus accepts pet transport under VIP care.
British Airways only accept Dogs and cats as pets on their flight to or from the UK. For further in the below paragraphs, we will try to get you detailed information regarding British Airways pet policy’s rules and regulations to be followed to get permission for your pet to travel without any hurdles.
British Airways Pet Travel Guidance
There are certain rules which you have to keep in mind when flying with your pet or Assistance dog.
- There are various airlines that accept assistance dogs only if they can resist a maximum of 10 hours flight. But you can take your pet also on longer flights for more than 10 hours if you place a confirmation of this to British Airlines.
- You have to secure your assistance dog at the time of take-off or during landing or when a seat belt alert will be announced. So for this, you can use a safety harness or any similar equipment to make them fit in one place.
- British Airways always suggests you carry a fleece or wet bed when you are flying with your assistance dog. This will make your pet comfortable to lie down and it’s good if the bottom of the fleece must frim with some absorbent pad.
- Make sure you have a strong base container to hold the pets which is suitable and comfortable for pets with the proper ventilation.
- The cabin crew of British Airways in the flight is not responsible to give service to your assistance dog. Thus you have to look after your dog’s needs and have to take care of them in-cabin.
- Before the day of the flight with your assistance dog, you should clear all the requirements and kept all the documents. This all will be required for check-in and also for entering the arrival destination.
- British always allow the pets container after determining that their base material is leak-proof so that the surrounding of the area where container has been put, is clean and tidy from excretion.
- You also have to do with all the necessary vaccinations, checkups, and tests with the fitness health certificate of your pet. All the documents of your pet should be with you all the time.
- If you booked your ticket already and make a plan to travel with the pet then you should inform the Airlines booking department or you can contact directly with the helpline number or chat online 24hours prior to the flight departure.
- Before check-in, you should check the eligibility of your pet that airlines allow for travel with you in the same flight in-cabin or travel separately with the cargo.
- You have to contact the respective country’s embassy or consultant where you are flying with your pet. This is to get yourself acknowledged with all the requirements and arrangements, you have to do or all the rules and restrictions for your pet’s entry to that particular country.
- This is much recommendable that you check-in your flight with the help desk rather than the self-service channel.
Arriving of pets in the UK is only possible if it meets all the requirements for getting approval to enter the UK locations. These are been stated in the Pet travel scheme, which has been set up by the UK government.
Guidelines For Pets Entry and Traveling from UK:
Passengers who have pets and traveling to the UK have to know this in advance before arriving in the country.
- You have to get in touch with the UK-based Animal Reception Centre before your scheduled flight at least 72 hours before your departure.
- They will list you up with all the Pet Travel Scheme requirements you need to fulfill to get pet entry approval.
- UK Animal Reception Centre will give you a pre-approval letter for your pet on the basis of the documents.
- This approval letter has to be placed at the check-in time of you and your pet, by which you will get permission for getting on board of British Airways flight to the UK.
From The UK
British Airlines is partnered with PetAir UK, which provides its services to the world since 2004. They have fully qualified veterinary doctors that offer comfort, safety, and convenience to the passengers’ pets while exporting from the UK.
To The UK
If you want to travel with your pets to the UK, then you can go with the IAG Cargo. This is British Airways’ sister company that provides its services for almost decades. They can transport the pets from every corner of the world and will care for your pets as their own.
KEEP IN MIND:
When you are flying to Southen Africa and your flight has been operated by one such partnered airline of British Airways, Comair, but booking is done by British Airways. Then only assistance dogs which are been certified and trained are permitted to fly in-cabin. But except for these assistance dogs, all other types of pets are only allowed to travel in the cargo hold.
Guidelines for Pets transport in the cargo hold
Pets traveling from or to Europe under British Airways flight, then you have to maintain the standard of pet carriage in which your pet will about to have flight journey in the cargo hold of aircraft.
Only assistance dogs or emotional support dogs are permitted in-cabin of British Airways flights. And weight measured of your pet including the pet carriage which has been permitted to carry on must be 6 kg.
- The Pet container must be waterproof or leakproof with the absorbent material fit on the floor of the cage.
- The dimension of the pet carrier must be maximum of 20 x 30 x 20cm (7.5 x 11.5 x 7.5in) in height, length & width.
- Only one pet carriage is permitted to carry on in the cabin of each aircraft.
- At the time of flight change or cancellation of the tickets pet carriage charge may not refundable you have to contact the booking counter for this.
NOTE: When flying with British Airway franchise airlines like SUN-AIR flights, then you are not permitted to carry pets in a cabin or cargo hold to UK destinations.
Assistance Dogs
If you are traveling with your dog and its assistance, then the airline will not be charged any cost for the dog assistance. Dog assistance will travel in-cabin of your flight. You are not allowed to book this service online as a limited number of dogs are allowed to carry with you in the cabin. You have to book this service t the airport.
- Your assistance dog needs to be trained and must be certified by some recognized authorized training institution.
- Second, proving to be the assistance dog, then British Airways will not charge anything for their transport, i.e Assistance dogs can fly in-cabin along with their owner free of cost.
- For service of assistance dogs traveling in-cabin, you have to book by calling the customer center, as you can not book these types of pet tickets online.
- You have to inform about the arrival of assistance dogs along with you on the scheduled flight yours in advance British Airways, as sometimes they have to limit the number of pets in the cabin of the British Airways.
There are certain procedures for planning and booking for assistance dog flight smoothly and safely which dog owners have to follow.
Booking Process for Pets Traveling on British Airways
Booking of pets is not possible online if you are doing it with British Airways. You have to contact them directly for this. You can contact support staff either at the Airport or on the Helpline number.
You can even book your pet flight ticket at the same time when you are booking your own with British Airways. Though if you are selecting the flight date that is closer than you are booking, then at least there must be 14 days gap between the flight date and booking date. This period is required by British Airways for confirming your pet transfer to your desired destination.
In case you had already booked your tickets with British Airways, but later on, you want to take your pet along with you then you have to contact their reservation center to add your pet tickets on the date of your flight. But remember, this booking is also must be within 14 days of your scheduled flight date to get confirmation of your pet transport.
Contact :
- You can get in touch with them from 07:00 to 23:00 (EST) on a daily basis by dialing 1-800-AIRWAYS (or 1-800-247-9297).
- If you are disabled in hearing or in speech, then you can contact us by calling on 1-866-393-0961 (TTY).
- If you are contacting British Airways from some international destination, there is a list of contact at the official website on the contact us page.
For detailed procedure for managing British Airways booking.
Departure Process:
- Check-in can be done online, but assistance dog check-in can not be done online. And thus you have to go to the check-in desk at the airport where staff members of British Airways will take your assistance dog to the boarding gate while checking all the requirements needed for the flight.
- Passengers with assistance dogs will be allotted a seat that has enough front space where your pet can sit down near your feet comfortably. Usually, bulkhead seat rows are been allocated for assistance dog passengers.
- You can take your assistance dog along with you in-cabin if you will use Lounges, which is totally dependent on your frequent flyer membership or the cabin of the flight you will travel.
For detailed information regarding British Airways Check-in, click here.
Arriving Process:
Coming to the UK with a pet, you have to be a little bit conscious about the entry of your pet into the country at the arrival point at the airport.
- Immediately after you arrive, the animal reception center officer of the UK will communicate with you on aircraft only and lead your pet out of the airport to get entered the UK by checking and clearing all the requirements for pet entry.
- Officers of the UK animal reception center will tie a tag on the dog’s harness which is stating ‘Pet Travel Scheme Entry Check Passed’. This is meant as proof for your pet which is a clear sign of your pet entering the country.
- Once the officer will clear up all the requirements and approve your pet to enter the country, then British Airway will accommodate your pet to the relief area and hand it over to their respective owners waiting for them only.
Connecting flight:
Connecting flights are required when you have long-distance location flights. And when you are traveling with a pet it will take time to recheck on another flight. So,
- Airlines give pet passengers extra time for getting rechecked and your pet for boarding another connecting flight. British Airway helps you to clear all the needs of your pet for boarding.
- Moreover, sometimes, a staff of British Airways at the airport will help and accompany your pet and guide you to the proper waiting area for the next departing flight.
Emotional Support Dogs
As same as Assistance Dogs, Emotional support dogs are also accepted by British Airways. These types of dogs will travel in-cabin of the aircraft along with other co-passengers if you are flying to or coming back from the states of the USA country.
Apart from the USA destination flight of British Airways, if you want to take your Emotional Support Dog along with you in-cabin, then British Airways will not accept it. But you will be happy to hear that you can send your pet in the cargo hold of the aircraft.
It’s been hereby informed British Airways that you have to inform them about your Emotional Support dog travel on their flight in advance. British Airways need to know this minimum of 14 days before your flight so that they can get information regarding the Emotional Support Dogs required for a smooth safe flight journey of your pet in-cabin.
When your flights have been operated by other airlines which are been, franchise partners airlines of British Airways, then pet policy or pet travel permission from those airlines is not the responsibility of British airlines. Thus before your flight, please contact them directly for the procedure to be followed for pet travel.
Moreover, if you want to get more details regarding British Airways’ pet policy, then you must get in touch with British Airways’ official site or customer support team, to get helpful gestures from the staff members of British Airways. In addition, you can even contact us, treknova for information on your need by dialing +1-800-831-1547, toll-free no. available to you 24*7.
