Pet Friendly Airlines Series: Lufthansa Airlines by Deepika Rana

"Animals don't lie. Animals don't criticize. If animals have moody days, they handle them better then humans do."                               -Betty White

No matter where you travel in the world, but at some point you are going to consider flying your pet. You always want to make sure that your pet is in good hands while travelling.In my last Pet Friendly Airlines Series,I talked about Air France-KLM Airlines.
This week we are looking at Lufthansa.

Flying Pets with Lufthansa

This airline is one of the largest and busiest in the world. Increasing customer's demands for a high-quality service for transporting their beloved pets motivated Lufthansa to begin offering service to travel with pets.

Lufthansa Airways has a very pet friendly pet policy. Lufthansa transports nearly 2,000 horses, 15,000 dogs and cats, 80 million tropical ornamental fish, 300 tons of worms, 8,000 pigs, 150 zoo animals each every year.



Here are some of the highlights from Lufthansa:

• Depending on the size and weight of your pet, they transport pet either in the cabin or in the cargo hold area of the airplane.
• Lufthansa's animal lounge at Frankfurt international airport is a 4000 square meters facility that provides first-class service to your pet during layovers.
• It is the world's most advanced animal station that has rooms for all kinds of animals:beehives to zebras, and from horses to elephants. Professional, species-appropriate handling and care is provided by trained staff at the facility.          

Animal Lounge in Frankfurt

• Pets travelling in the cabin who have layovers more than 2 hours will also be admitted to the lounge.
• Animals are inspected, fed and walked during the transit.
• The climate chambers at the facility allows different temperature setting based on the animal they have.
• Animals are not transported to the aircraft until just before departure. Up until that time their animal keepers feed and look after them individually.
• Pets can also fly unaccompanied via Lufthansa cargo.
• Transportation costs vary between different origin and destination. Further additional costs for special handling, veterinary, shelter etc. may occur.

Here's a behind the scenes video of the Lufthansa Cargo Animal Lounge at Frankfurt Airport and how the staff takes care of them:

Pet Friendly Airlines Series: Air France-KLM by Deepika Rana

Welcome to the first week of my series of pet friendly airlines. Over the next few weeks, I will be turning your attention to some of the pet friendly airlines so you may provide a comfortable and stress free travel experience for your four-legged companion.

From my personal experience and some research, I will spotlight airlines that are top choices among the international pet travelers.

Air France-KLM (Also referred to as Royal Dutch Airlines):

I've chosen this airline twice for my pet travel and they were above my expectations.
From departure to final destination, they managed each detail of my pet's move with compassion and personal attention.

Here are some of the few key points that makes KLM one of the top choices in my list of pet friendly airlines:

• A small dog or cat can be taken into the economy class cabin of most KLM flights, and in business class on most KLM flights within Europe.

• Air France-KLM have a special animal hotel at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.

• If your pet is travelling as a check-in baggage and the transfer at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport lasts two hours or longer, the airline will offer your pet the chance to eat and drink, get some exercise and enjoy some rest under the care of a well trained animal professional. Kennels are also cleaned in transit.

• The costs depend on the destination. If your pet is travelling as a check-in baggage and is staying the Air France-KLM Cargo Hotel, you will pay an additional EUR150 to cover animal's care during the transfer.

• KLM cargo is a part of Pet Travel Scheme (PETS). It is a scheme that allows pets from certain countries to fly to UK without going into quarantine, if certain criteria are met.

• Exotic animals can be transported as well, for example ornamental fish, rabbits, guinea pigs, horses etc.

Watch this video that features the special handling of pets at the KLM Cargo Animal Hotel at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

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