Flying your pet to Spain with Jet2

This all new to us. We’ve only had Hank for three years and never had any kind of experience in moving a pet to a new home, never mind abroad. So when the realisation came that we need to get the cat to Spain many questions ran through our mind. The most important question was ‘How the hell are we going to get him there?’.

Of course, we know that pets have flown and have been flown all over the world, and even know someone who took their dogs to New Zealand and apparently it cost more compared to their humans plane tickets. So we knew that this was going to be one of those tasks that would need a good research.

Flying your pet to Spain with Jet2 can be the first option. There are also many services out there that offer to take your pet via air, but be careful when choosing these as they are just mostly middlemen. It is better to approach Jet2 via email [email protected] or give them a ring 0161 498 3473. Hank is a Maine Coon so he’s a lot bigger than other cats, the rough estimate for an average cat with Jet2 is approx £350.00 to £400.00. Jet2 for pets also require you to have an airline approved kennel to house your pet in.

EXAMPLE OF AN AIRLINE APPROVED KENNEL

IMPORTANT FEATURES

Ventilation openings on the front, side and back
Fixed food and water containers with outside access
By law, you MUST use the ‘This Way Up’ label and ‘Live Animals’ label
On planes, you must use a green IATA ‘Live Animals’ label and a ‘This Way Up’ label

JET2 PET CARGO RULES

Please ensure the kennel/box is airline approved – if in doubt check the web for “airline approved kennels” or contact the jet2 cargo reservations team.
(definitely, no all metal containers allowed)
Please expect fees to apply on recovery of the pet at destination
Please note that overtime charges may apply at destination if flight arrival time is out of hours for customs and/or weekends
Please do not arrive at the outbound cargo warehouse any earlier than 3 hours before the flight departure.
Tighter cut off/close out at airport of departure may be possible but would need to be verified and pre-booked prior to the departure date

Anyway, after a few days of researching sending your pets via airline, we decided that a specialist pet courier would be better for him and for our pocket. There are plenty of pet courier services around the UK that drop off in Spain. Basically finding the right people and right price takes a bit more work. I will write a follow-up post on pet couriers in the UK soon.