Relocating a pet from Gurgaon to Mumbai by Air

I run a pet relocation service based in Gurgaon and I sometimes get contacted by friends who would like to travel with their pets and seek our services. We usually take up complex and international relocations as profession and we provide free consultation over the phone for straight forward domestic relocations.   One of my friend, Surbhi, called me and she had a query for her friend, Urvashi, who wanted to get her cat called Oreo relocated from Gurgaon to Mumbai. I gave her written points over whatsapp, and thought its a good piece of content to be shared publicly and hence this post.

You can travel with your pet by Road, by Rail or by Air from Gurgaon to Mumbai. Urvashi after discussing with me decided to travel with Oreo via Air Jet airways has recently stopped taking AVI (Dogs and Cats), so we are left with only two airlines in India for pet travel: Air India and Spice Jet. Air India and Spice Jet both allow Accompanied (part of checked baggage)' or 'Unaccompanied' (shipped via Cargo)

Spice Jet Pet Travel: All Pets travel in the cargo hold of the aircraft irrespective of the fact whether they are accompanied or unaccompanied by owners.

Air India: If your pet is less than 5 Kgs and the size is small enough to fit the height of the under seat area, then your pet can travel in cabin. If the weight of the pet is more than 5 Kgs, Pet will travel in the cargo hold of the aircraft irrespective of the fact whether they are accompanied or unaccompanied by owners.

Urvashi was travelling by Air India and Oreo was 8 Kgs, so it was accompanied by owner but pets travel in the cargo hold of the aircraft. While you book the ticket you should make sure that the airplane you are booking have appropriate Animal hold. Some small airplanes do not have AVI Hold (animal hold). If it is a big airplane it will have the animal hold. It is best to call customer care of the airline and confirm the same.Once ticket is booked, call the airline to tell them that you will be travelling with a pet and they should put a not on the pnr. Here is a general list of things you need to keep in mind while travelling with your pet from Delhi to Mumbai by Air India:

1.Fit To Fly Certificate: You will need a fit to fly certificate from a Veterinarian. This certificate will mention name of the pet, breed of the pet, age and a line certifying that the pet is healthy and fit to travel. It is like a letter on Veterinarian’s letter head pad with his signatures and stamp. Get two copies- Sometimes they keep a copy at the checkin counter. One copy should be with you, just in case you have to show it anywhere.2.Vaccination Certificate: The Duty incharge will ask you to show the vaccination card/book in original and may ask for a copy of the same. Keep both original and a photocopy with yourself

3.Crate: Airlines except travel crates as per IATA regulations and guidelines. The crate should be high enough that it pet should not touch the ceiling of the crate in the Sit Position. If you want to know more about what is a crate and how to size a crate you can refer to an article written by Adnan Khan on https://www.dogspot.in/dog-blog/5-reasons-why-you-should-be-going-backpacking-with-you-dog-rightnow-dogspot-in/ .Adnan is the founder of K9 School in Delhi and one of the most well known pet expert in India

<p>You need to make sure that your pet is crate trained before you put the pet in the crate for travel. Crate training should be the first training for the puppy or a kitten. It is very easy and comfortable for the pet to travel when they are well trained and acquainted with the crate. <p>4.Travel Information on Crate: Please use a permanent marker to put information on the crate like: Contact Number, Address, Accompanied Passenger or Receiver’s Details, From where to Where details, Pet’s name, and specific condition of pet. It is also good to write when was your pet served with food and water last time. In case the flight get super delayed someone can offer water, food etc in transit. <p>5.Water Sipper: We usually train our pets to have water from a crate sipper and fix a water sipper in the crate itself, if your pet knows how to drink water from a pet water sipper it makes it easier, but this is not a must have for short travel <p>6.Water / Food Bowl: Usually the crate come with a plastic bowl which get attached to the crate gate from inside. This can be used to give food or water by airline/airport staff to the pet during the transit <p>7.Crate mat or towel: Crates are made of fiber and they are very sturdy but the pet may feel cold and not so cozy in it. Most airlines ask to put a towel or blanket or a crate mat to line the crate bottom so that the pet feel cosy and comfortable in the crate. <p>8.Security Check: Once the check-in counter gives a go ahead to board the pet, they will give you a porter who will take you to an x-ray machine for security check of excess baggage. Pets are not allowed to get x-ray exposure. They will ask you to remove your pet from the crate and put only the crate under x-ray. Once this is done you will be asked to lock the crate <p>9.Lock the Crate using Cable ties: I find cable ties very convenient to lock the crate gate. You can get these ties on any electric shop. In every crate there are holes near the crate gate. You can pass cable ties from the hole through the crate gate mesh and lock it <p>10.Motion Sickness: Lot of pets get motion sick when they travel by air. It is best to avoid feeding your pet before travel – Motion sickness can make the pet vomit <p>11.Pee & Poo: It's better to make your cat pee and poop before leaving for the airport as they are not well trained regularly to pee or poop outside. If your cat is trained to walk on harness you can take her out for the toilet before locking the crate for boarding. Please also carry poo bags, news paper, toilet paper roll and potty picker. In case you get the pet out of the crate during security check or if there is delay in the flight or at the arrival to the destination, and your pet pees or poops you can clean it. <p>12.Harness/ Leash/ Collar: It would be great if you can put a harness on the cat- so that it is easier to take the cat out for all practical reasons to have better control and hold over the cat. This is very useful during the security check. The leash for the harness can be attached on the top of the crate using the packing tape. Some airlines do not allow it. If your airline is not allowing to put the leash on the top of the crate- you should keep it with you in case of accompanied travel otherwise you can tell the person to carry leash / collar who will be coming to get the pet <p>13.Departure Airport Proceedings: You should arrive at the airport about 2 hours before the time of the flight. You will have to go to the duty manager. On Delhi Airport for Air India, the last counter towards the security check is the duty manager counter. Duty Manager will take all the docs and book the pet and will ask you to go to the cash counter and pay for excess baggage. It is usually around INR 500 per kg. Once you pay that, the duty manager will check with the airplane and ask you to proceed. There are rare chances that the pilot may refuse to onboard the pet. This is happens when there is any other material in the cargo hold which is not allowed to travel with animals or the animal hold area is preoccupied or there are too many animals in hold travelling. In such a case they will send the AVI in the next available flight. <p>14.Arrival Airport Proceedings: Crate will come via excess baggage route or a porter will bring the crate manually. Best is to go to the designated luggage belt and find an airline executive standing there. You can tell the executive that you are expecting your pet to come. The executive will check on wireless and will get the crate to you. You should not take out the pet from the crate immediately, because it may pee or poo immediately so take it out side. Find an appropriate place and keep the leash ready and open the crate and put on the leash. <p>Please feel free to comment below or get in touch with us if you need any assistance while travelling with your pet or if you just want to get the pet relocated. We also provide pet travel escorts.