Flying a Pet from the UAE — Cabin, Checked Baggage or Cargo, by Airline and Route

How your pet actually travels

There are only three ways an animal crosses a border by air, and the one you end up with is decided by the destination far more often than by your preference. This page sets out all three, what each one demands, and which are open on the routes we are asked for most.

Cabin, checked baggage, or manifest cargo

They are not three grades of the same service. They are three different legal routes, with different paperwork, different limits and different people responsible for the animal at each end.

In the cabin

With you, under the seat in front

The animal stays with you for the whole flight in a soft carrier that fits under the seat. It never enters the hold and never leaves your sight.

What it needs

A small cat or a small dog — typically 8 kg or less including the carrier
A soft carrier within the airline’s under-seat dimensions
A booking made directly with the airline, days in advance, with a limit on how many animals are allowed per flight
The destination must permit cabin arrival — many do not
The same health certificate and permits as any other route

Suits: Small animals on short routes that allow it. The least stressful option when it is available, and it very often is not.

As checked baggage

In the hold, on your ticket

The animal flies in a heated, pressurised part of the hold on the same aircraft as you, checked in against your own ticket at the normal desk.

What it needs

You must be on the same flight — this route does not exist without you
A rigid IATA-compliant crate, checked at the desk and often measured there
A weight limit covering animal and crate together
Check-in well before the usual cut-off, at a desk that handles animals
The destination must accept arrival as baggage rather than cargo

Suits: Medium and large dogs travelling with their owner, where the destination allows it.

As manifest cargo

On its own air waybill

The animal travels as freight on its own air waybill, booked through the airline’s cargo arm rather than its passenger desk. It can fly with you, before you or after you.

What it needs

A booking with the carrier’s cargo division, not the passenger line
An air waybill in the animal’s own name and number
A rigid IATA crate, inspected before acceptance
A handling agent at departure and, on most routes, one at arrival too
Collection from a cargo terminal, not a baggage belt

Suits: Every route that does not allow the other two — which includes some of the most common ones. Also the only route when the pet travels separately from you.

One thing people are caught by: “cargo” sounds like the worst of the three and is frequently the best. The animal is loaded last and unloaded first, the hold is heated and pressurised, and at the other end it is met by people whose job is animals rather than suitcases.

The carriers that fly pets out of the UAE

Read off each airline’s own published policy. Carriers change these without notice and several of them vary by route, so we confirm your specific flight before anything is booked.

AirlineHubCabinChecked baggageManifest cargo

EmiratesDubai (DXB)NoYesYes

No cabin carriage except falcons and assistance dogs. Checked baggage on many routes, cargo through Emirates SkyCargo on the rest.

Etihad AirwaysAbu Dhabi (AUH)Route-dependentNoYes

Cabin for cats and small dogs up to 8 kg including the carrier, at least 16 weeks old — but not to the UK, the USA, Australia or several Indian cities. Checked baggage is for falcons and service dogs only, not pets. Pet booking form seven days ahead, documents 72 hours ahead.

Turkish Airlinesvia Istanbul (IST)YesRoute-dependentYes

One of the few carriers from the region that still takes cats and small dogs in the cabin on a wide range of routes.

flydubaiDubai (DXB)NoNoYes

No animals in the cabin or as checked baggage at all. Cargo only, booked through flydubai Cargo.

Air Indiavia Delhi (DEL)Route-dependentRoute-dependentYes

Genuinely varies by route and by direction — not to or from the USA, Canada, Australia or the UK, and not on flights leaving India for the UAE.

“Route-dependent” is not a hedge. It means the airline carries pets that way on some routes and not others, decided by the destination, the aircraft and the season.

What is actually open on each route

The destination decides this, not the airline. A carrier can be perfectly willing to take your dog as checked baggage and still be unable to land it that way.

DestinationHow the pet must travelWhere it landsThe catch

United KingdomManifest cargoAn approved route — usually HeathrowPets must be booked as manifest cargo on an approved airline. Cabin and checked baggage are not entry routes into Great Britain, whatever the carrier will sell you.

IndiaCabin, baggage or cargoDelhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru or KolkataSix airports and no others, so the pet’s flight and yours may have to differ. Etihad excludes several Indian cities from cabin carriage.

PhilippinesCabin, baggage or cargoAny airport with a veterinary quarantine deskThe import clearance has to be approved before departure, and the microchip is absolute.

United StatesBaggage or cargoATL, DFW, LAX, MIA, JFK, PHL, SEA or IAD — directDogs must land at an airport with a CDC-registered animal care facility, with a reservation already made, and the airport must match the import form. No domestic connection first.

CanadaCabin, baggage or cargoAny port of entryThe most flexible of the six for a personal pet. A dog travelling to a new owner is a commercial dog, and those are barred from the UAE.

AustraliaManifest cargo onlyMelbourne International, directNot the cabin, not checked baggage, not another Australian city, and no domestic transfer afterwards.

The full rule for each country — vaccinations, titre tests, quarantine and timings — is on the travel requirements guide.

The order these things have to happen in

Booking the flight first is the most expensive mistake on this page, because the flight is the one thing that cannot be moved once the rest is in motion.

Settle the destination’s rules

They decide which of the three options is even available, and how many months you need. That is the travel requirements guide.

Start the clock on the veterinary work

Microchip, rabies, and the titre test where one is needed. This is the part with the long waits in it.

Measure the pet and settle the crate

The crate decides the weight the airline charges on and whether the animal is accepted at the desk. It is also the thing most often got wrong.

Book the flight, on the right option

Passenger desk for cabin and checked baggage, cargo division for manifest cargo. Different teams, different lead times.

Health certificate last

It has a short window — days, not weeks — so it is written against a flight that already exists.

What people ask before they book

Can I choose which way my pet flies?

Only within what the destination allows. For Australia and the United Kingdom there is no choice at all — manifest cargo or nothing. For Canada and the Philippines you have all three, and then it comes down to the size of the animal.

Is the hold safe?

The part animals travel in is heated, pressurised and lit, and it is the same air the cabin gets. Animals are loaded last and unloaded first. The genuine risks are heat on the ground at either end and a crate that is the wrong size, and both are things we plan around.

Can my pet fly without me?

As manifest cargo, yes — that is one of the reasons the option exists. As checked baggage, no: that route only exists while you are on the same aircraft. Note that some countries treat an unaccompanied animal differently on arrival.

What if the airline changes its policy mid-move?

It happens, usually seasonally. We re-check the carrier’s published policy for your route before the booking is made and again before the health certificate is written, because that certificate is dated against a specific flight.

How your pet actually travels

Cabin, checked baggage, or manifest cargo

In the cabin

As checked baggage

As manifest cargo

The carriers that fly pets out of the UAE

What is actually open on each route

The order these things have to happen in

Settle the destination’s rules

Start the clock on the veterinary work

Measure the pet and settle the crate

Book the flight, on the right option

Health certificate last

What people ask before they book

Tell us the route and we will tell you the option