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A place I stay regularly at in Portugal now allows dogs to stay for 25Euro per night. It has got me thinking about whether to maybe take our Jack Russell with us sometimes when we visit. Our options are to drive with him (26 hours door-to-door each way) or to fly him. I have previously read about pressure on flights causing some/all dogs ear pain and so on, and I’m still considering whether 52 hours in a car or 5 hours in a plane is preferable (both round trip durations).
Firstly, does anyone know which airlines that fly between UK and Portugal allow dogs and do any allow the dog in the cabin rather than the hold? He’s about 8kg so we would definitely consider putting him in one of those small carry cases in the cabin if possible.
Secondly, does anyone with experience of taking their dog on a plane have any guidance to make the experience as pleasant as possible for the dog, the owner and everyone else (other passengers, crew, etc.)?
Thanks!
I think Iberia takes animals – you might not get a direct flight to your nearest airport in Portugal but you might be able to get close and get a hire car to go the rest of the way.
But first of all have you checked what sort of bureaucracy you might have to negotiate in both directions?!
Fortunately quite a few people do it these days – I took our little westie to France for a month a couple of years ago fortunately being in the EU it was easier given the pet passport scheme available.
You’ll have to see which airline you’re able to fly with and whether they accept animals. If they are under 8Kg they can be allowed into the cabin on some airlines. TAP, Air France and KLM all allow in the cabins. BA do not and outsource the booking of animals to another company – they can only fly in the hold. Not sure on Easyjet etc.
Either way you travel you will need your vet to issue a certificate to travel. More importantly where ever you end up staying in Portugal you will need a vet to administer and certify that your dog has had the anti-worming tablet, no more than 3 days prior to travel back to the UK. Like anything as long as you have done your homework and have everything arranged you will be fine.
If you don’t already have an EU Pet Passport, probably worthwhile finding a friendly Portuguese vet whilst you’re out there and getting one sorted – will save you a fortune in AHCs if you are a frequent visitor to Europe with your dog.
Plenty of specialised Facebook groups can direct you to a vet that is willing to do this – we got one in the Netherlands and one in Ireland for our 2 dogs. Still need the worming treatment on return though.
You need to double and triple check the rules of each airline you are considering using.
IB for example has a weight limit of 8kg for being in the cabin. That’s the weight of the animal and the transport container. And then there are limits on the size too as well as minimum and maximum connection times.
And then as the UK is a non Schengen arrival there are restricted airports that can be used.
And then there are different rules for transporting pets to the UK as opposed to from it.
Not that IB will carry a pet back to the UK
IBERIA is still not authorised to transport animals to the United Kingdom and will there-fore not accept any pets for this destination
See https://www.iberia.com/gb/fly-with-iberia/pets/
And that’s just IB.
KL has its own set of rules for e.g. carrier size.
Not that KL can transport a pet as baggage back to the UK …
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