Akasa to allow pets up to 100 kg on its aircraft from November 1

NEW DELHI: India’s youngest airline, Akasa, will from November 1, 2022, allow pets — domesticated dogs and cats to start with— on its aircraft like the country’s longest-flying carrier, Air India.
Akasa founder & CEO Vinay Dube said pets weighing up to 7 kg will be allowed onboard; those weighing between 7 and 32 kg will need to be checked in at airports and 32-100 kg will have to be checked in at cargo terminal as they will require to be flown in larger crates.
“There will be a charge for all these three categories of pet carriage which will be announced shortly. Pet booking will start from October 15 for flying November 1 onwards,” said Dube, an avid dog lover.
The airline will allow a maximum of one pet in the passenger cabin and one in the cargo hold — so at most two pets on a flight. The pet in cabin will need to be in a crate and (pet parents will be advised to make them wear a) muzzle. The crate will be put in front of the accompanying passenger’s seat, said an airline official.
Dubey said: “Crate size of pets weighing upto 32 kg is small enough to go through airport counters. Heavier pets weighing upto 100 kg will need to be checked in at cargo terminals because crates that hold large size dogs like Great Dane, Rottweiler, Mastiff, Greyhound or Irish Wolfhound are too big to go through airport counters. I am a dog person, so I can go on (naming different breeds).”
Air India, which has been flying pets for decades, allows a maximum of two pets in cabin per flight — one in the last row of first/business class and one in the last row of economy along with the accompanying passenger.
“Small inoffensive domestic pets such as dogs, cats and birds, accompanied by valid health and rabies vaccination certificates, will be accepted on AI domestic flights in the cabin or in cargo hold… subject to approval of flight commander… must be in soft ventilated bags/kennel (of) prescribed size. Weight of pet, including the container, should not exceed 5 kg for carriage in the cabin. Pets of larger size/weight will be carried in the cargo hold. Dogs and cats must be at least 8 weeks of age to travel. Pregnant pets will not be accepted,” AI website says.
Air India website says passengers intending to import/export pets to/from India as baggage are required to comply with applicable regulations and have a NOC/pre-import clearance from Animal Quarantine & Certification Service (AQCS) in India, before the commencement of the journey to India.
“Import/export of pets by passenger’s having the requisite clearance and permission from AQCS can only be done via six airports in India at present: Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai,” AI website says.
Akasa, which currently flies only domestic routes, plans to start international flights from mid-2023 by when it is scheduled to have 20 aircraft in its fleet.