If you’ve never sent a pet on a flight before, it’s natural to want to know exactly what happens at each stage, and what you can expect from Airpets along the way.
Before Travel Day
Preparation is the most important part of your pet’s journey. This typically includes crate training your pet well in advance so they feel comfortable and settled before departure, along with a series of vet appointments covering microchipping, vaccinations, blood tests, and health certificates. Depending on your destination, you may also need import permits and other country-specific documentation. Requirements vary and can change, so it’s worth confirming exactly what’s needed for your pet’s route as early as possible.
Once your booking is confirmed, you’ll have booking flexibility and receive regular updates throughout the process, so you’re never left wondering what stage your pet’s journey is at.
Drop-Off and the Animal Lounge
On the day, your pet is looked after at the Heathrow Animal Lounge, our facility that provides comfort between drop-off, kennels, and transport services. Being based on the Heathrow perimeter road means your pet’s transit time is kept to a minimum, so they spend as little time as possible in their crate before the flight.
We recommend pets stay with us the night before their flight in our five star boarding kennels, so we can make sure all their paperwork is ready and they don’t miss their flight. Dogs are walked two to three times a day in our secure outdoor paddocks, and get lots of cuddles from staff, who treat every pet like one of their own. Cats stay in our cattery penthouses, and while they don’t go outside, they take part in our enrichment programme.
During the Flight
Pets travel in a separate part of the cargo hold, which is temperature controlled and pressurised. Pets are loaded onto the plane last and unloaded first. Your pet travels in an IATA-compliant crate, and Airpets operates landside-airside services in partnership with major airlines, delivering the highest standards in animal safety and travel compliance throughout.
Arrival and Reuniting with Your Pet
Once your pet lands at their destination, you’ll be able to collect them from the airport. We recommend using a pet travel agent at the destination to assist you with customs clearance and arranging drop-off, and Airpets is able to recommend a trusted agent in your destination country to help with this.
Airpets has been a family-run business since 1966, and has helped tens of thousands of pets travel safely over that time, so you can expect your pet to be treated as family, at every step of the way.
First class pet travel since 1966.
