What Akasa Airline's Announcement Means For Your Pet On-Board

In what comes as good news (and a much-needed one) for pet parents, India's youngest airline, Akasa, has announced it will allow domesticated cats and dogs to travel with their owners from&nbspNovember this&nbspyear. Akasa Air is India's youngest airline, which has completed 60 days into the operation. 

According to media reports, the airlines will allow dogs and cats in the cargo and cabin hold. This makes Akasa the second airline, after Air India, to consider pets such as dogs, cats and birds travelling onboard. 

What This Means For Your Pet

If your pet weighs up to 7kg, it can travel in the cabin onboard. But if your pet weighs anywhere between 7kg to 32 kg, they will need to be checked in at the airport counters, and those weighing between 32-100kg will need to be checked in as cargo as they will need bigger crates to be flown in. What needs to be kept in mind for a pet owner is that only one pet weighing up to 7kg will be allowed in the cabin and one in the cargo hold, which means one passenger will be allowed two pets on a flight. 

In India, at the moment, pets are allowed onboard, but there are too many exceptions to the policy. Not just pets, service animals and agricultural animals, among other animals and species, can also be flown. However, snub-nosed breeds aren't favoured because these breeds are prone to heat exhaustion and breathing difficulty, which can be exacerbated  by air travel.