Ten passengers boarded the Gulfstream G4 from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey to Farnborough Airport just southwest of London last Friday evening in a drizzly tarmac. They didn’t seem to notice the plush leather seats or the sweets wrapped in his flutes of champagne in the armrests.
They also didn’t particularly enjoy climbing the stairs of the aircraft.
this was the first flight K9 jetis a private jet charter company based in Birmingham, England, driven by a growing desire among pet owners to travel with their animals and growing frustration with the increasingly difficult process of flying with them. was established in response to The passenger manifest included nine mostly large dogs, one sphinx cat, and ten humans.
Most of the passengers had emigrated to Europe. One said her Australian cattle dog mix, Jasmine, needs life-saving heart surgery, and they all have one thing in common. I hate having pets in the cargo hold.
Pet owners looking to transport their pets on commercial flights must navigate a patchwork of regulations that vary by airline. Service animals that are not considered pets are permitted on board and may be left unrestrained, but other animals have size restrictions and larger pets must be transported as cargo.
According to the US Department of Transportation, more than 200 pets, mostly dogs, have died on planes in the last decade. The department advises owners of short-nosed dogs such as pugs and bulldogs. consider the risks Regarding shipping these varieties as cargo, much higher mortality than other dog breeds.
Short-nosed dogs are more likely to have trouble breathing than other breeds. According to the American Veterinary Association.
Seven pets died in flight last year, According to Transport Bureau materialsSix of these deaths occurred in the following days. Hawaiian Airlines flight. Hawaiian Airlines spokeswoman Marissa Villegas said five of the animals were short-faced dogs that were shipped in cargo.
Villegas said passengers traveling with pets should be aware of and accept the risks before traveling with Hawaiian.
Commercial airlines enter
Meanwhile, private jet companies have stepped in, offering in-flight travel without pets being trapped in crates or carriers for hours.like some net jets and VistaJet have their own pet program.upon VistaJet flightspets are fed the best cuts of meat, given toys, and given a soft mat to sleep on.
Leona Qi, president of VistaJet US, said the number of people traveling with pets is steadily increasing, with about half of the company’s customers having pets. Mostly dogs, she said, but there were also rabbits, falcons and chameleons. VistaJet sells memberships that give access to different levels of flights. Company spokeswoman Madeleine Leiter declined to provide pricing details.
Qi said pet programs are often a “determining factor” in persuading customers to upgrade to more expensive memberships that offer more room space.
Private jet operators say dogs under 150 pounds are generally allowed in aircraft seats on private flights, but pets must be seat-belted or secured in a carrier during taxis, take-offs and landings. must be placed in On some jets, once the person purchases a seat, there is no additional cost to transport pets or the purchase of a seat. We help you create the right documents.
But these private flights can be incredibly expensive, and even a domestic trip from one coast to another can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Rusty Rueff, a 62-year-old startup advisor and investor in the San Francisco Bay Area, has been flying his dog across the country for years. pet aviationis an animal-only airline founded in 2009. However, that company closed a few years ago.
Rueff said he had personally flown several times during the pandemic with his 5-year-old French bulldog, Theo, but didn’t want to continue. He said he was sometimes banned from flying when he tried to fly for commercial purposes with his previous dog, a French bulldog. That uncertainty has made him reluctant to take commercial flights with animals.
Instead, his family drives across the country from the Bay Area to Rhode Island, where summer locations are located. He called the annual trip “painful”.
“I don’t understand why airlines don’t see the business opportunity,” Ruef said. “We would do anything for our pets, just like we would do anything for our children.”
large dog in cabin
K9 Jets wants to capitalize on that feeling, initially offering flights between New York and Paris and Lisbon and London.of 17 listed flights Between May and the end of September, eight were sold out. In the fall, it may expand its service to other cities, including Dubai. A one-way ticket between New York and Europe is about $9,000 per seat. Pet owners can purchase seats for their pets. Otherwise you can sit on the floor for free. Pets cannot fly without a human companion.
K9 Airways founder Adam Golder G6 AirlinesIt is a brokerage firm for private jets.
“There are hundreds of people waiting for flights,” Golder said. “I think people don’t want to put them in a crate and say goodbye.”
K9 does not actually own any planes. Flights are operated by licensed US airlines including Pegasus Elite Aviation. K9 Jets use Gulfstream G4 planes that can accommodate 10 passengers.
Dee McLaughlin and her partner James purchased two seats on the K9 Jets’ maiden flight last week. They were accompanied by English cream golden retrievers Bentley and Murphy, who were lounging quietly on the cream sofas of the plane. To get to New Jersey, they took her 4 flights over her 2 days on her JSX., It offers public charter flights to a limited number of domestic destinations and allows medium and large dogs in cabins either in carriers or on floors.
McLaughlin said he was “absolutely terrified” of having the dog on the cargo. She spent months researching alternatives, scouring her social media for tips on chartering planes with like-minded strangers. Then she discovered the K9 Jets, which she called “a game changer for pet parents like us.”
“It feels great to have the dogs by our side,” said McLaughlin. They ended up renting a private his jet for the final leg of their trip from London to Ireland. Their plane trip cost him over $35,000.
Private jet footprints
So far, Golder said the majority of prospective customers have either moved or traveled for an extended period of time. Most human passengers on the company’s flights last week said they were flying privately for the first time.
Private flights come at an environmental cost. Studies show that private jets have a much higher carbon footprint per passenger than commercial airlines.according to Transport and environmentA Brussels-based advocacy group, private jets cause 5 to 14 times more pollution than commercial planes and 50 times more than trains.
Golder said K9 Jets offset the carbon footprint of every flight.
Research shows that the wealthy have a disproportionate impact on the climate. 2020 Paper published in the journal Global Environmental Change It is estimated that 1% of the world’s population emits half of the carbon footprint of commercial aviation.
But some pet owners, like Ali and Mary Borzabudi, feel they have no choice. was Sweet, excitable dog Jasmine, who has a serious heart condition, was nervous on the plane and wearing her diapers, and in a few weeks she’s scheduled for surgery in London.
“We have no children, we only have one dog,” said Mr Borzabdi. “Try everything and hope it works.”
