Fur the love of dog! The future of pet travel

Dear furless friends,

Are you frustrated with the overbearing air travel restrictions imposed on pets? Are you sick with worry whenever the airport check-in overlords banish your Golden Retriever to the aircraft hold? Do you cringe watching baggage handlers disinterestedly chucking around cargo? Do you dream of a future where the financial and emotional stress of pet travel is no longer an issue to consider? A new Birmingham airline might have the answer for you (or for your uber rich alter ego!)

K9 Jets, the UK’s first private jet airline for pets, promises comfortable transatlantic passage to holiday-seekers worried about the implications of flying commercially with pets in the cargo-hold. The risks of traveling with our furry friends on commercial flights can be many, ranging from wildly different airline regulations to unpredictable size and breed restrictions. Recently, the rights of passengers to bring Emotional Support Animals, service pets which relieve the psychological distress of their owners, into the cabin has been severely limited, now applying to dogs only. This has further reduced the scope of pet air travel, as those who need the emotional aid to keep calm are now unable to travel with their beloved animals by their side.

K9 Jets has found a gap in the market for safe, comfortable pet air travel in the cabin.

To give another reason why it’s perfectly rational to want to avoid commercial airline pet travel, the latest statistics from the US Department of Transportation assert that over 200 pets died on flights in the last decade. While this may seem small when contrasted with the yearly pet death rate, the risks of extreme temperatures, poor ventilation and rough handling, can never be fully eradicated.

K9 Jets has found a gap in the market for safe, comfortable pet air travel in the cabin. Pets of any species can safely occupy a seat in the cabin and assist their human in their travel on a chartered private plane. The company mostly offers flights between the UK and USA and France and USA, responding to the rising demand from people relocating across the ocean or traveling for extended periods of time. However, the prices remain inaccessible to most, even considering the large cost normally involved in moving across the Atlantic. A one-way trip from London to Teterboro, New Jersey, at the end of May, will cost you almost £9000! Nevertheless, almost half of their upcoming 17 flights are already sold out, and there has even been demand for more routes across Europe and North America.

It seems then that K9 have found a ready solution for the pet-lovers wealthy enough to afford multiplying the cost of their ticket at least 10 times. Unfortunately, until they can lower costs, they still leave most people to deal with the current, dysfunctional system. Regardless of how many flights K9 Jets and similar companies will run, their small plane only holds 10 passengers, and as many pets. The majority of transatlantic furry travel will continue to take place on commercial airlines, and most passengers will be left to navigate long queues and confusing regulations. People in need of an emotional support animal will have a harder time claiming the right to travel with their furry friend at their feet, and generally the system will keep on leaving many worried and confused about their travels. If we want to establish accessible plane pet travel, K9 Jets is just the beginning of a long road.