Qantas says it won’t let dogs, cats fly in the cabin

Fur is flying after Virgin Australia outlined plans to let passengers bring their pets along for the ride on domestic flights.

What the airline terms as “everyday pets” – essentially dogs and cats – would be permitted in the cabin, enjoying the same status as currently limited to designated support animals instead of being consigned to the aircraft’s below-decks cargo hold.

The controversial move came after Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority relaxed the rules on passengers bringing their pets with them in mid-2022.

However, Qantas tells Executive Traveller it will not follow Virgin’s lead and issue boarding passes to all mutts and moggies; in accordance with long-standing practice, only authorised assistance or service dogs will be permitted in the cabin.

A Rex spokesperson said while the airline was “not ruling out the carriage of pets in the cabin… our policy for the carriage of assistant dogs remains unchanged and are welcome in the cabin.”

Virgin claims a poll taken via its Facebook page saw 85% of respondents in favour of the airline allowing pets in the cabin; additional research claiming nearly 70% of Australian pet owners would travel with their pet in the cabin, while 57% said they would fly more regularly if the service was a reality.

However, public response to Virgin’s announcement is divided. Social media comments are almost evenly split for and against, while a snap poll conducted by Executive Traveller saw 53% of people against Virgin’s new pet-friendly policy and 47% in favour.

Allowing dogs and cats in airline cabins is already widespread in the USA and Europe, although at a cost: most US carriers charge US$125 per pet on one-way domestic flights, while Lufthansa applies a €50-€70 levy per pet.

(Virgin confirmed it will charge passengers a yet-to-be-revealed fee for bringing their high-flying pets on board.)

During the pandemic, we even saw former racing greyhound Lewis upgraded from a kennel in the cargo hold to his very own business class seat on a near-empty Singapore Airlines flight from Melbourne to Italy.

Just don’t get your pet’s hopes up for those Virgin Australia flights: your favourite furry friend won’t be able to sit on your lap or curl up on an empty seat next to you.

Virgin says animals will have to remain in an small ventilated airline-approved pet carrier (Executive Traveller is seeking clarification on if this will count as one of your two carry-on bags).

More crucially, that carrier must then be stowed under the seat in front of the owner for the duration of the flight – which will no doubt prove a tight fit for poodles and pugs, let alone medium-sized dogs.

And the ‘pet zone’ will be restricted to a limited number of designated rows on each plane. 

“It won’t be a menagerie on board, we’re just talking dogs or cats,” clarified outgoing Virgin Australia Group CEO Jayne Hrdlicka, ahead of her departure from the airline in the coming months.

Hrdlicka also noted that the creation of those pet-friendly rows meant for passengers who “don’t want to be anywhere near those rows, it will be easy to be separated, especially if you have an allergy.”