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Pet air transport

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  1. #1

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    Pet air transport

    My friends have told me you can only transport your cat if you fly Cathay as they are they only airline offering a "cat ticket". Surely this cannot be true?


  2. #2

    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by David4Maths:
    My friends have told me you can only transport your cat if you fly Cathay as they are they only airline offering a "cat ticket". Surely this cannot be true?
    No idea but wouldn't surprise me ATM, try star alliance.

  3. #3

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    You have to call around- I could not get Eva or Air China/China Air (whichever is the TW one) to take my cats.

    Flying out with cats on Monday, please, dear God, do not let the flight be canceled, next window to fly would be after Lunar NY...

    Pain in the butt to get the Animal Health Certificate signed by AFCD...had to drop it off, go back and pick it up in Sham Shui Po as they are closed...

    TW does not recognize HK as rabies free so it has been a 7-month odyssey to get the cats to TW...

    Where do you want to bring the cat? That is the issue...

    Also, pets fly in the hold on Cathay, no cabin options- honestly my one cat is a screamer (it's an ungodly sound far beyond meowing), she cannot fly in the cabin under any cirumstance.

    Some destinations (like HK) require pets fly as manifest cargo, that's a whole other pain in the ass and much higher cost. To TW, I can take them for extra luggage charges 13 US dollars per kilogram (cat plus kennel).

    Oh and can use Asia miles to pay the extra luggage charge, apparently I have earned a few of those, heaven knows how, so maybe can actually pay if the total is under 20kg.

    Last edited by MABinPengChau; 22-01-2021 at 05:36 PM.

  4. #4

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    Fly to UK.


  5. #5

    Join Date
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    Pre COVID, British Airways would also take pets in cargo. Getting them to Heathrow from HK is ok. But the hanging around for flight connections to the final destination can be uncomfortable for the pet though apparently there are pet toilets and a garden for them to walk round. You can get pet importers to pick up from Heathrow and then bring them back home by car.

    I had an excellent guy but he only had to pick up from Manchester and drive half an hour.

    Cathay do not accept short nosed animals, including British Short Hair cats, citing Brachycephalic concerns.

    I think the European airlines used to take them but again, who knows what’s going on because of Covid.

    I would suggest you contact pet exporters for the best advice.

    I am using George Yung again, International Pet Export, after the summer for both my dog and cat.

    Last edited by bsh; 23-01-2021 at 10:53 AM.

  6. #6

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    There are DIY guides online if you want to save on the high cost of pet exporters, UK is a pretty common destination from HK. Pretty sure UK considers HK as rabies free, even if TW does not. Makes import pretty easy probably just need the vet check which maybe needs a chop from AFCD. With the current issues flying to UK it may be a bit of a wait to get a flight. Cathay would not allow the cats to fly unaccompanied, meaning 4 weeks of quarantine for me to return to HK and haul them back to Taipei. Had things to do in HK, made it work for me. If you use a pet exporter, you don't need to be on the plane with them but was still cheaper to do it like this and also didn't need to bother my coworkers to organize the shipping. I think Finnair is also still taking pets but likely a layover somewhere.
    They wouldn't let me put any kind of litterbox when I came from the US, one cat peed all over the cushion, poor thing. The other one peed in AFCD plants when let out for microchip scan, they had nowhere for pets to relieve themselves.

    Elegiaque likes this.

  7. #7

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    @MABinPengChau - hope It all goes smooth for you and your kitties on Monday.

    Looking forward for the updates.

    Elegiaque and MABinPengChau like this.

  8. #8

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    To UK you can only use BA or Cathay. Lufthansa has an embargo on pet shipments to UK & Ireland till end of March.
    The biggest problem currently is not the lack of flights but also HARC (Heathrow Animal Reception centre) has imposed a daily cap on pet shipments due to the huge influx of pets moving to UK (Relocating expats after losing jobs due to covid, BNOs etc).
    Under normal circumstances you can DIY but currently with the way things are, you are better saving yourself a nervous breakdown and either get an agent or wait till things are back to normal which is most likely next year (2022).

    MABinPengChau likes this.

  9. #9

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    IATA water bottle requirements just changed, enjoying the scramble here at the airport...now need to open from the top for refilling as if my cats are going to drink any water from the water bottles on this flight...pretty sure that they would die of thirst before touching them. So they rigged up an open water dish that they can add water to, clogging up the cage with more crap. And the whole computer network is down and they are checking in the whole flight by hand. Altogether, a 2 hour check in process...was HK 1620 for 2 cats and their cages and food for quarantine. No one asked me for their paperwork. Have no idea what happens when I land and neither did they so should be fun.

    Only positive thing is that I am sitting now at the gate and can see the actual plane, making me optimistic that I will be inside that plane in about a half hour...my coworker in Taipei is waiting for this very same plane to whisk her back to HK so we won't be in the same flat together, a quarantine violation under current Taiwan rules...


  10. #10

    Join Date
    Oct 2012
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    Quote Originally Posted by MABinPengChau:
    IATA water bottle requirements just changed, enjoying the scramble here at the airport...now need to open from the top for refilling as if my cats are going to drink any water from the water bottles on this flight...pretty sure that they would die of thirst before touching them. So they rigged up an open water dish that they can add water to, clogging up the cage with more crap. And the whole computer network is down and they are checking in the whole flight by hand. Altogether, a 2 hour check in process...was HK 1620 for 2 cats and their cages and food for quarantine. No one asked me for their paperwork. Have no idea what happens when I land and neither did they so should be fun.

    Only positive thing is that I am sitting now at the gate and can see the actual plane, making me optimistic that I will be inside that plane in about a half hour...my coworker in Taipei is waiting for this very same plane to whisk her back to HK so we won't be in the same flat together, a quarantine violation under current Taiwan rules...
    Pictures?

    Hope you make it in one piece!!!

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