Skip to Main Content

Service Dogs

Service Dogs

Following US DOT (Department of Transportation) 14 CFR Part 382, we've revised some of our service-animal and emotional-support-animal travel policies from 11 JAN 2021. Please review all relevant policies before you travel.

Fully trained service dogs and psychiatric service dogs may fly in the cabin at no charge if they meet the requirements. Please make sure that you have prepared the necessary documents for importing from and exporting to all countries/regions on your itinerary, including countries/regions where you will be transferring. More country-specific regulations and documents about pet travel can be obtained from IATA's Traveler's Pet Corner

Requirements

  • The service animal must be a dog, aged 4 months or older.
  • Emotional-support animals are recognised as pets, and the handling guideline for checking pets shall be applied. See Pet Policy AVIH.
  • A service animal is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a qualified individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual or other mental disability.
  • Service dogs must be vaccinated against rabies, must not have been exposed to rabies, and must, to the user's knowledge, be free of pests and diseases that would endanger people, other animals or public health.
  • Service dogs should be harnessed, leashed or otherwise tethered, and a spare mask should be prepared.
  • Service dogs must be clean and well behaved. They must be trained to behave properly in public and should follow directions from their handler. They should not be allowed to run freely within the terminal, around airport areas or on the aircraft.
  • Service dogs should be able to fit on their handler's lap or within their handler's foot space on the aircraft.

Service dogs cannot:

  • Be seated in an exit row
  • Protrude into or block aisles or rows
  • Occupy a seat
  • Eat from tray tables

Animal behaviour:

Service dogs must be trained to behave properly in public, and they won't be allowed in the cabin if they display any form of disruptive behaviour that can't be successfully corrected or controlled, including but not limited to:

  • Growling
  • Biting or attempting to bite
  • Jumping on or lunging at people
  • Urinating or defecating in the cabin, terminal or gate area

Service dogs must be kept under control at all times via a leash and/or harness. The handler or user must carry spare masks for their dog.

If disruptive behaviour is observed at any point during your journey and isn't corrected or controlled, the dog will be treated as a pet and checked in as checked baggage. All requirements and applicable fees, as per AVIH regulations, will apply, and service-dog users may be responsible for any damage caused by their service dog.

Advance notice required

  1. US Department of Transportation Service Animal Air Transportation Form: An attestation from the service-animal handler of a service dog's good behaviour, training and health.
  2. US Department of Transportation Service Animal Relief Attestation Form: An attestation from the service-dog handler that the dog can relieve itself in a way that will not create a health or sanitation issue on a flight lasting eight hours or longer.
  • We request that you contact our reservations department at least 48 hours in advance of your flight to make arrangements.
  • Passengers travelling with pets to the United States,please refer to Bringing an Animal into the United States. In addition, The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have new regulations for dogs entering the United States on or after August 1, 2024. For more details, please refer to the CDC website What Your Dog Needs to Enter the United States.

Denial of transportation:

Service dogs are dogs that are trained to assist passengers with disabilities in doing work or performing tasks. They are also required to be vaccinated and well behaved in public. Any of the following circumstances will lead to service dogs being denied transportation:

  • If the service dog poses direct threats to the health or safety of others
  • If the service dog causes significant disruption at airports or in aircraft
  • If transportation of the service dog violates applicable health or safety requirements, as well as other regulations, of a US federal agency, a US territory or a foreign government
  • If the service-dog user fails to submit the aforementioned standard forms