Pet Travel gets many people who ask the same question: can my pet fly to the UK in the cabin with me?
The answer is, unfortunately, no. Due to regulations imposed by all commercial airlines approved to fly live animals to the United Kingdom, there is no way you can fly into the the UK with a pet animal in the cabin of the aircraft unless it is a service or emotional support dog.? Your airline must have a program in place to support ESA or service dogs. This is a requirement of all commercial airlines. It is not a requirement of APHA or DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food & Affairs).
In the case of emotional support or service dogs, pre-approval must be obtained from the Animal Reception Center in the airport you are flying into. Inspection of your dog must be arranged in advance. The same applies for animals arriving by private jet.
Why can’t a pet fly in the cabin to the United Kingdom?
There are several reasons. The first is that it is easier to track a pet that is flying as air cargo. All live animals flying as air cargo are included in a “manifest” and fly under an Air Waybill. The airline must provide arrival information to the Animal Reception Center (ARC) prior to arrival.? In doing this,? DEFRA knows how many animals are arriving at a given time and can allocate their resources accordingly.?
Another reason for the air cargo requirement is the process once your pet lands in the UK. Either an agent or employees of the ARC will take your pet from the airline to the ARC building which is where you will claim it. Because the ARC is located on airport grounds and not at the airline terminal, secure transportation to the ARC is essential. This process began years ago when 6 months of quarantine was required for all cats, dogs and ferrets entering the United Kingdom.
What are the alternatives to air cargo?
Courtesy of Unsplash
One alternative to avoid this requirement would be sailing on a pet friendly ferry. You can fly with your pet in the cabin to Paris if it conforms to? airline requirements for in-cabin travel. Then, you can drive or take a train to Calais and then take a pet friendly ferry or Le Shuttle across the Chunnel. There are several ferry services that serve the northern coast of France including DFDS Seaways, P&O Ferries, Brittany Ferries, and Celtic Link Ferries (to Ireland). Remember, though, that many of these ferries do not accept pets in winter months and most of them require that your pet travel in a car. (DFDS out of Dieppe will accept foot traffic; however, your pet must travel in a kennel on deck.)?
Le Shuttle also requires that all pets and their owners travel in a vehicle. There are services like Folkestown Taxi and Pet Movers that will pick you and your pet up in Calais and take them on Le Shuttle for a fee.
You can also consider flying to Amsterdam, taking a train to Rotterdam and taking DFDS, Stena Lines or P&O to Hull. At this writing, DFDS will accept foot traffic and they have pet friendly cabins to reserve. Although the ride is longer, we hear it is very pleasant.\
You can find more information on pet friendly ferries here.
If you have further questions, please send us an email to info@pettravel.com or post them here. We always answer your questions promptly.
I am hoping to adopt a dog (or 2 compatible dogs if I can afford it) from Cyprus. The rescue in Cyprus say it will be roughly ?495 to send the dog by air (cargo) to the UK – this is just the price for the shipping of the dog, the rescue don’t take any of it. Is there a cheaper way to get the dog to the UK? Manchester is my nearest airport but I don’t mind travelling to pick him up. The Tui website is misleading because it says you can pay ?53 for your dog to travel in the hold if you are a passenger, but on phoning Tui they say you can’t do this. Please help 🙁
Virgilio – your dogs will need EU Pet Passports reflecting a current rabies vaccination administered after a microchip was implanted. If your dogs are not currently vaccinated for rabies or a microchip, then they will need to wait for over 21 days before traveling. They will also need a tapeworm treatment administered by a licensed veterinarian between one and five days of entering London.
They will need to enter London as air cargo, if flying. You will need to contact the cargo department of an airline that flies the entire route. You can also drive and enter the UK on a pet friendly ferry or take Le Shuttle out of Calais, France.
Jason
I eve a small dogs with all the documents and passport can I travel from Ancona Italy to London
Nikolai – it is possible to find an airline that will fly a small dog or cat out of the UK in the cabin. We have confirmed that both Swiss Air and Lufthansa will do this. You may want to check with Aeroflot and see if their airline Pet policies allow it. Of course, it is always wise so confirm with your airline that pets are flown on your specific route due to aircraft limitations.
Susan
Hello!
I plan to go on a vacation with my dog (bichon frisee) from Russia to the UK for two weeks.
To my astonishment I found out that flying to the UK with my dog in the cabin is not possible due to the regulations in force. That is why I currently review a number of options including using transfer to the UK via Eurotunnel with the help of Folkestone Taxis (from Paris or Brussels) or going to Harwich using Stena Line ferries from Hook of Holland.
My dog already possesses a pet passport (with proper marking and identification of animal details, vaccination against rabies details and tapeworm treatment details) and I am able to get the Third-country official veterinary certificate issued by a vet in Russia.
I would be grateful if you could kindly advise if it is actually possible to fly direct from London to Moscow with my dog in the cabin on my way back (subject to having all necessary documents listed in second point above and Aeroflot accepting my dog on the flight). I am a bit confused on that as I see that according to the regulations you only have to fly your dog as cargo to enter the UK, but no such requirement for leaving the UK.
If outbound flight in cabin is possible that would mean that I am able to enter the UK by ferry/train without leaving my dog in the cargo and at the end of my vacation fly from London to Moscow direct with my dog in the cabin without having to transfer via the continent, which is going to be a lot easier for both of us.
Thank you.
Best regards,
Nikolay
Cat – we cannot advise you on going outside the rules. The UK is very strict about importing animals and needs to monitor their import by requiring them to enter as air cargo. The only work around is to enter the UK by ground, either by Le Shuttle from Calais or a pet friendly ferry from Spain, France, Belgium or the Netherlands.
Susan
Thank you, Susan. Unfortunately, I just read on that ADI website that “Neither ADI or International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF) recognize emotional support dogs, ADI Accredited Member programs do not train, place or certify emotional support dogs.” The more I read the more I worry that there is really no work around to move my dog to the UK with me and keep her in the cabin for the air travel. It sounds like the safest bet is to travel via France. I’ve read through a couple of pages of comments, but have you had any of your readers report back that they’ve been successful in being able to travel from US to UK with their dog in cabin? We are moving to the UK so really no way to avoid making the trip 🙂
Hello Cat – all US airlines (and airports) will allow emotional support animals (ESA); however, the UK does not recognize the classification of ESA. What will happen is that your airline will require that, if you are flying to the UK with a ESA, you must product a pre-approval letter from the Animal Reception Center in the destination airport. The UK requires that “assistance dogs” are defined as those who are trained by an organization that is a member of the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF) or Assistance Dogs International (ADI). You must be able to prove this for your dog to qualify.
Also, there are airlines such as British Airways that do not recognize ESAs and they fly many routes between the US and UK.
Susan
Hello,
Reading through the comments, it sounds as though certain airlines and airports will allow you to travel with your pet in the cabin if they are a service or emotional support animal. Does this only apply to service animals, or do certified emotional support animals also meet this requirement? If so, what are the recommended airlines/airports for US to UK travel? Thank you!
Hi
I need to take our dog ( giant breed mastiff) from Merida Mexico to Antigua y Barbuda.
Looking for alternatives like boats, cruises etc
Who cban advice me?
Thanks
Frida – it is difficult to cost transport for live animals because the numbers never stays the same and the pricing algorithms can be complicated for animals flying as air cargo. All commercial airlines require that animals flying into the U.K. and Ireland do so as air cargo. Flying into Paris, taking the train to Calais, then taking Le Shuttle is a popular way to avoid the air cargo requirement and Heathrow fees, but you and your cat will need to ride Le Shuttle in a car. Also, many pet friendly ferries also require that your cat ride in a car. There are some that provide kennels including one sailing from Rotterdam.
Phil
I am traveling from Stockholm Sweden to London with our cat. I have been looking around for different ways to bring him but none of the sites I have been looking at says anything about the price. Does anyone know about different prices, going by plane, train or boat?
Linda – EU vets issue what is called an EU Pet Passport. That is what you will need to travel within the UK. If you plan to fly, you should also ask your airline whether a health certificate is required.
Jason
Hi Again:
Thanks so much for your assistance with all our travel questions!
I have one question regarding a pet passport. I keep running across reference to this document for travel in England and France. We have done our research and are feeling that we know what we need from our vet prior to travel but are confused by the “passport” . If we have all proper documents signed etc. from our vet is that sufficient, or do we need something else?
Kellen – we are a bit confused as the UK permits only certain commercial airlines to land at airports approved as Border Inspection Posts (BIP) in the UK and, although Gatwick is an approved BIP, they are not on the approved list for the import of live animals. You may want to check with another representative of Norwegian to see if they are permitted to fly your dog into Gatwick. Send us an email at info@pettravel.com and we can discuss further when you get their response.
Susan
Susan
First of all I would like to thank you for your tips.
I bought my ticket for Norwegian, and will be arriving at Gatwick Airport on 7th June (Thursday), my flight will be direct.
You could tell me the contact of this airport to request the letter of pre-approval and if that day will have officials for immigration my dog.
Thank you very much
Kellen – in order to qualify your dog as an ESA, you need to read more information here: http://www.pettravel.com/passports_comfort_animals.cfm. This is not something you can do yourself. Then you will need to find an airline that is approved for live animal transport to the UK (Lufthansia is one) and take a direct flight to the UK. (no layovers outside of the US). You will need to notify the Heathrow Animal Reception Center (HARC) that your dog is entering the UK in the cabin. There will be VAT due on arrival (20% of the value/cost of the dog + transport – minimum of ?100. VAT will be returned to you once a Transfer of Residency (ToR) form is filed.
The cost of air cargo is significantly more than in the cabin because the airline will track your pet and also notify HARC of its arrival. The cost also includes the fees of a licensed transporter who collects pets flying as air cargo and takes them to the HARC.
Susan
Hi, I’m a resident of UK and I came to the USA for a trip, here I got a dog but I cannot prove because I have not any document, at the moment I’ve been suffering of depression and I did ESA letter, I am going back to UK in June and I’d like to take her beside me inside the cabin, I’d like to know what the costs would have at the airport (VAT,etc), and if they can fail to accept the ESA letter because I am resident in UK.
If I decide to bring her in the cargo of the airlane, the costs would be the same?
Annabel – due to the regulations of all commercial airlines flying into the UK, all live animals must travel as air cargo. You can check with Swiss Air to see if they fly the route directly; however, unless your dog is a certified service animal, likely they will not permit it. Many pet owners fly into Calais, take the train to Calais and take Le Shuttle to Folkestown to avoid the requirement. You, your daughter and your pet must ride in a car to travel on Le Shuttle. There are services that can pick you up in Calais if you need that such as Folkestown Taxi or Pet Movers.
Susan
Hello. I need to fly urgently back from Bari to the UK with my 5 year old daughter and my small dog. I would like to take the small dog in the cabin with us. I am not well and need to get back the most direct route possible. Thank you
Annabel