Pet Transportation Services
As a general rule, there are three basic means of pet transportation services.
1.Pets can travel with passengers on commercial airlines.
| 2.Airline companies can be chartered to fly passengers and their pets to their destination and is useful for groups or families travelling together; costs are reduced and the regulations regarding the transportation of the pet are usually less stringent. |  |
3.The third option is to use a pet transporter that specializes in transporting pets and handles all the details of placement on the flight and safe transport to the destination and home.
There are various pet transportation services available on commercial airlines. A pet can travel in the cabin under the passenger seat if it is small enough to fit in a pet carrier or crate. There are very specific airline guidelines for this type of travel and only a limited number of cats, dogs or birds can fly in the cabin on any given flight.
The pet can also fly as a ticketed passenger along with you but it travels in the cargo area. Finally, the pet can be unaccompanied and fly in the cargo area by itself or with other pets travelling on that flight.
Commercial airlines have set many guidelines for pet transportation services which demonstrate that a great deal of effort has gone into the safe transportation of animals.
| The pet needs to be at least eight weeks of age, fully weaned and in good physical health. The pet should be checked by a veterinarian prior to travel to insure this condition is met and should be accompanied by the requisite health certificates and documentation. |  |
A travel crate should be used to transport the pet and should be large enough for the pet to move around in and lie down. The crate itself has to meet certain specifications for the door and hinge so that the animal will not be able to bend or distort the door.
Toys, towels and blankets included in the crate make the trip more comfortable for the pet. The pet’s nails should be trimmed prior to the flight and the pet itself should not be fed prior to the flight. Reasonable prices can be found on chartered plane flights if there are up to a dozen people travelling as a group.
Chartered planes tend to fly out of small regional airports that are close to both home and travel destinations. Each chartered airline has its own set of policies regarding pet transportation services and these should be checked prior to booking a flight.
In addition to commercial and chartered airlines, there are airlines that specialize in the transportation of pets. These may transport pets only and the pets sit in the main cabin and not in cargo, such as with Pet Airways.
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