Jet-Setting Dogs: K-9’s go First Class!

Dogs fly on Victor Airways via first class cabin

Have you ever wondered when there would come a day when traveling by plane would allow you and your dog to sit next to each other? This week, that reality came true. Made possible by the private jet charter company called Victor Airways, which is currently in 45 countries, including the UK, Germany and Switzerland.

Victor Airways is the first company to offer dog owners a seat with their dogs
in the cabin area.

For about £1,250 (roughly $2,000 USD), the same price as a human ticket, your pooch will no longer need to be placed in a confined cage or cargo hold. Instead, they’ll have their very own leather-upholstered seat next to their owner in the cabin area. South-West London resident Isabelle Frank recently brought her miniature Schnauzer Dylan on a flight to Palma, Mallorca. According to the DailyMail, Frank asks “How can you have a proper family holiday if you don’t take the family dog with you?”

Isabelle Frank and her happy dog Dylan seated in the cabin

“In the past we have put him in the hold but the trauma was terrible for both of us. It used to break my heart seeing him in a crate on the runway waiting to be hoisted on board.”

‘Mrs. Frank says that Dylan began to panic as soon as he saw empty suitcases being brought out of the cupboard.’

Dylan strapped in during the flight

“We tried putting the cage in the house for a few weeks before traveling in the hope that he would get used to it, but he never did. 'In fact, he would run in the opposite direction and was clearly in distress just at the thought of it. Look at him now. He’s his normal happy self.”

On the other hand, dogs of celebrities have enjoyed taking their pets with them such as Paris Hilton, heiress to the Hilton empire. She has always taken her Chihuahuas and Yorkshire Terriers via her private plane. Lady Gaga and her pooch Fozzi travels alike via private plane.

There are currently no commercial airlines that allow dogs or cats to be seated in the cabin next to their owners. Victor Airways is the first company to bring this luxury of traveling alongside your pet by “per seat” basis. “A happy dog makes a happy owner,” says Clive Jackson, the founder of Victor,

“I realized there were a lot of people who weren’t going on holiday to places like Mallorca because they couldn’t take their dogs with them. We’re opening a door for them.

A happy dog makes a happy owner,” - Clive Jackson, founder of Victor Airways

“I got talking to one woman who had seen her dog yelping in its cage upside down on a conveyor belt after she went the cargo route. She said she would never put her dog through that again,” says Jackson.

Dogs now enjoy the human experience onboard.

Recent rule changes in the UK mean that dogs and cats can come and go without spending time the quarantine area providing they have passport, correctly micro-chipped and vaccinated for rabies.