Mr Golder said that following a boom in cargo prices and pet uptake during the pandemic, “people see their pets as family members and they wouldn’t want to put a baby in cargo. For a lot of our customers, their pets are their kids.”
He added: “The reason this was born is because people don’t want to put their dogs in cargo. These are all middle class people. Some people’s companies pay for it as a relocation fee, some have sold their house and are relocating, but they’re just everyday people who want to travel with their pets”
Mr Golder, a self-professed aviation geek who learned to fly 12 years ago, said that around 25 per cent of the bookings are for holidaymakers going to the US, or Americans heading to the UK, including second home owners. The remaining customers are relocating permanently.
Owners get afternoon tea
With “so many requests” for the Algarve, Nice, Spain and Dubai, the firm is looking to expand more for holidaymakers.
On board, dogs get treats and their owners get afternoon tea repeated with sandwiches, scones, an open bar and waiter service, with the owners engaging in “very sociable” conversations.
“We have a personalized seating plan done for their temperaments and all the dogs meet with their owners an hour before the flight to socialize, so they’re all familiar with each other,” Mr Golder said.
Pets flying back into the UK must have a health certificate, tapeworm treatment and a rabies certificate.
Lufthansa is one of the handful of mainstream airlines that allow pets in the cabin. However, they must be in the hold with cargo for the return flight into the UK. A spokesman for the German airline explained that they transport “mainly dogs and cats with their passengers either in the cabin or in the belly”.
Other airlines to allow it for certain destinations include KLM, though only dogs and cats can go in the cabin and passengers are “not allowed to take your pet out of the kennel during the flight”. They must be at least 15 weeks old.