When I first learned of the SkyPets service at London Biggin Hill airport a few years ago, I immediately wondered why commercial airlines insist that animals must be imported in their holds. Clearly, if there was a legislative impediment, then it must have been one that distinguished between different types of air transport—but my research only found section 4 of The Rabies (Importation of Dogs, Cats and Other Mammals) Order 1974, which states (edited for brevity):
Prohibition on landing of animals in Great Britain- Subject to the provisions of this order, the landing in Great Britain of an animal brought from a place outside Great Britain is hereby prohibited.
- ...
- The prohibition on landing contained in paragraph (1) above shall not apply when the landing is under the authority of a licence previously granted by the Minister, and in accordance with the terms and conditions subject to which it was granted.
- ...
I therefore wondered exactly what these importation licences said about the matter, whether they stipulated (for commercial airlines) that non-service animals
must be carried in the hold—and if so,
why. These questions seemed especially pertinent given that:
- commercial airlines will carry service animals (e.g. guide dogs) into the UK in their passenger cabins;
- some commercial airlines (I think at the time KLM) were prepared to carry small animals out of the UK in their passenger cabins;
- many commercial airlines were prepared to carry small animals in their passenger cabins on non-UK routes;
- some GA aircraft were able to carry all animals, even non-service ones, in their passenger cabins.
I tried speaking to the airlines, and was mostly told that
"it's UK law, there's nothing that we can do about it". I therefore wrote to the imports team at the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA, the division of Defra who run the Pet Travel Scheme) to enquire into the situation, and received the following very helpful reply:
Article 11 of the Non-Commercial Movement of Pet Animals Order 2011 requires the approval of carriers that carry pet animals into Great Britain. The procedures for doing this are set out in each airline’s required method of operation (RMOP) to ensure that all pets entering UK airports are able to be transported safely and securely to the pets checking facility. However, operations at airports are both sensitive and complex, and other vital border controls need to be taken into account when these procedures are agreed. In practice, this means that pets currently travel to the UK by air as 'manifest cargo'. This not only enables the pets to be transferred efficiently to the pets checking facility, but also means that a documentary record of the pet’s arrival is available to customs and other border control officials.
Please note, once an RMOP has been agreed, the details cannot be changed without the transport company re applying for approval. Thus, if the RMOP states that pets will travel as manifest cargo – this is how pets will have to travel.
Defra officials are working with APHA, HMRC, Border Force and other operational partners to explore whether it would be practical to transport pets by air into the UK in ways other than as manifest cargo. We did offer a pilot scheme where airlines could apply for approval to transport pets in the cabin on a flight entering Great Britain into London Heathrow airport. This pilot remains available, however to date we have not received any requests from airlines for approval to transport pets into Great Britain in the cabin. Should an airline wish to amend their RMOP to enable them to transport pets in the cabin, they would need to agree procedures with the airport(s) into which they wish to fly and the APHA office responsible for that/those airport(s).
So, going back to the opening post in this thread:
Originally Posted by
stickandrudderman
I have learnt that it is actually possible to bring your pet into the UK on your own 'plane. What's needed is the co-operation of an AOC that is approved for the carriage of pets and then a simple agreement called an RMOP.
An "RMOP" is not a "simple agreement"—it is a formal part of the operator's licence. Regarding the importation of animals into the UK, an AOC's RMOP apparently sets out (in some detail) exactly how they will handle such imports: I would imagine that the RMOP involves, at very least, so much detail that they can only ensure its adherence on flights that they actually operate (if indeed their certificate/licence can even apply to other flights, which I find somewhat dubious). So, obtaining the "co-operation" of an AOC in order to import an animal on your own aircraft/flight, would almost certainly be a violation of their operating licence—and I very much doubt anyone will be willing to take that risk!
Hopefully this info may prove useful to others in the future. I also hope that it might prompt people within the industry to seriously consider participating in the Heathrow pilot (if it's still in place).