DUBAI – Pet lovers can’t spend a minute without their beloved animal and when they travel, they have to leave behind their pet due to strict commercial airline regulations.
The solution to this problem has been found as K9 jet service allows wealthy individuals to book a seat along with their pets for flying overseas.
The pay-per-seat private jet charter service K9 offers travelers to carry along their pets and the firm is launching its first Dubai-London service on September 25. The firm charters the flights (Gulfstream) from a US-based pet-friendly operator and can travel seven to eight hours and during the travel, pets must always be leashed and stay by the owner’s side.
“Since our launch, most of our flights have been transatlantic. But we have had so many requests, phone calls, and inquiries from Dubai, so we decided to launch the service,” said Golder who is the co-founder of the firm.
Regarding the cost, it depends on the hours traveled. From Dubai to London, K9 Jets charges $9,925 (Dh36,455) for one passenger and one large dog weighing over 51 pounds (23.1 kg) or two small dogs under 40 pounds. Cats can also be carried along but under the policy, they need to be in the crate at all times.
To those who think the company might not prosper, Golder says they had four passengers book seats in the first hour of launch.
‘We have plans to sell approximately 15 seats on the Dubai-London service,’ he added.
The private aviation company also plans on operating a second Dubai-London flight in December and increasing the number of flights depending on demand and extending the operation to far East.
For those interested, it has been clarified that the service from Dubai will be offered from the private jet terminal at Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC).
“We devise a seating plan based on the pets’ temperament. We try and keep assertive pets apart from each other. There are a few barks in the beginning, but they tend to calm down and sleep through most of the flight due to the white noise,” Golder told Gulf News.
