Flying with Puppy - Canada to Manchester UK

[Melanie]

Hi there, I wonder if anyone has some advice on the trip I'm planning. I'm Scottish but living in the States, planning on coming home in June for 4 months, so the puppy comes too! It's crazy expensive for us to fly from the US to the (very limited) amount of airports in the UK, so we're driving into Canada and flying direct from Toronto with Air Transat. When I called to book the dog in, I was told I had to deal with a "pet agent" in the UK. Is this a standard procedure on all airlines, do I NEED a pet agent? I have spoken to one in Manchester, and as lovely as he sounded - they want a £750 fee! Is there anyway round this, or are there guidelines for arrival with your pet in the UK which state you require a pet agent? If anyone has any similar experiences, I'd love to hear from you - my head is spinning with it all!

I had no idea until today that travel into Scotland would be impossible and we'd only have the choice of London or Manchester - I guess it's early days with the new ease of travel arrangements, I'm sure in time more airports will let us in!

Thanks for reading....

[admin]

Re: Flying with Puppy - Canada to Manchester UK

You can fly your pet through London or Manchester to Edinburgh International Airport with Lufthansa, KLM, United or Jet2. You can check with them to see if they require an agent as DEFRA does not. However, there will be clearance fees in England and the airlines will collect these even if an agent is not handling the transport. There are a lot of transporters operating out of Heathrow and maybe you can get a better price. Check IPATA.org and search for pet transporters.
Susan