Small pets might quickly be allowed to be with their homeowners within the cabin on sure Virgin Australia flights in an enormous change to home air journey.
Outgoing Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka made the announcement on Thursday morning saying the airline needed to be the primary within the nation to introduce the choice.
The transfer is topic to regulatory approval, but when it will get via, Virgin will launch the pet flights on particular home routes throughout the subsequent 12 months.
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There will likely be devoted rows on the pet flights for the homeowners travelling with their cats or dogs, nonetheless solely small animals could be allowed.
They will even be required to be restricted in a pet provider below the seat in entrance of the proprietor and will be unable to roam round freely or sit on folks’s laps for the whole thing of the flight.
“Overwhelmingly, our guests tell us they want to travel with their pets, and we are now on a journey to make that a reality. It’s something that commonly happens overseas and is proven to work well,” Hrdlicka mentioned.
“Almost 70 per cent of Australian households have a pet, so this announcement is really significant for a large proportion of the country.
“It’s also a great thing for pet-friendly accommodation providers who will benefit greatly from increased connectivity and the ease for travellers to fly with their pets. It really will be a whole new economy for pet travel in Australia.”
There could be no modifications to current preparations for authorised service animals and passengers travelling with bigger pets might nonetheless pay for them to be transported as cargo.