When there is a desire to fly an unaccompanied animal, or if your destination country is England, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, and a number of islands in the world, the animals will have to go through a cargo terminal route, unlike a regular flight with an escort.
What is the difference between flying a cargo and flying an animal as excess cargo?
As with any normal flight procedure, a vaccination procedure must be performed in advance and issuance of certificates depending on which country you are flying into and which country you are entering, in parallel with the other necessary arrangements in the preliminary procedure, which must start between 2-6 months before the flight. For more information on the subject, click here.
Flying with an escort
When flying with animals, the procedure in the field is relatively simple, the escort must arrive 3 hours in advance.
The flight, and after a security check the attendant checks in for him and the animals just like on a regular flight, except for the animal's consideration and payment of his flight ticket, and about an hour before the flight, the attendant hands the animals to a delivery crew. Life for the plane if possible.
Upon landing, after checking the passports, the escort arrives at the "Fragile Area" counters to present the documents, pay customs and leave the field, usually up to an hour after landing.
The cost of flying with an animal as excess luggage (with an escort on the plane) will range from $ 100- $ 400 depending on the flight route and the weight of the animals, and the cost of customs clearance will range between $ 250- $ 600 depending on the country of origin and destination.
Flight unaccompanied
In the case of a cargo flight, even if the animal flies on the same flight as the escort, the preliminary procedure is pretty much the same except for issuing additional documents, and assistance is needed with a local land company in the country of origin, in order to issue a bill of lading. 7 Before take-off in the area of the cargo terminal, where the animal will have to wait until it is loaded about an hour before the flight.
Upon landing, the animal will be transferred to customs in the area of the cargo terminal in the destination country, and will wait between 2-4 hours from the moment of landing so that it can be released, of course after checking the documents and paying customs clearance.
When the animal flies as a cargo, you have to pay for a ground company to carry out the flight, which usually charges this type between $ 250- $ 450 per animal, depending on the destination.
Paying an animal ticket to the airline will be significantly more expensive than flying it as excess cargo, and will usually start at $ 800 and can go up to $ 4,500 depending on the type and weight of the animal, and the countries of destination and origin.
Upon landing, it is necessary to coordinate with a local land company in order to release the animal, after checking that most of the costs for this type of service, including customs, will be between $ 300- $ 450.
An example of the cost differences between flight routes:
A pincher dog weighing 10 kilos will fly with a companion from Israel to the USA New York Direct flight, beyond the companion's flight ticket, the cost of the animal will be $ 200 and customs clearance $ 250.
A total of $ 550 does not include the escort's flight ticket.
The same dog will fly unaccompanied, and the payment of customs brokerage in the country of origin will be between $ 450 - $ 350.
Payment to the airline for a ticket for a dog flying unaccompanied will be $ 1700.
Customs clearance in the destination country will be $ 350.
The total shipment of animals from Israel to the United States will be between $ 2200-$ 2500
What are the flight options
If it is possible to fly with the animal on the runway and an airline that allows an animal as "excess cargo", whether with the owner, or with an airborne escort service, then both financially and in terms of the animal's mental health, it is better to try to fly it as excess cargo.
If there is no flight option other than cargo, you should check and consult with professional bodies on the subject, and only after you have performed a check on the company (recommendations, comments, Facebook) that you want to work with.