On the tarmac at Luton airport a Gulfstream private jet is parked. In the Signature Aviation terminal a group of very pampered passengers are waiting for the call to board. So far, just another day in the exclusive world of private aviation.
Until they prance out on their four legs, their golden hair blowing in the wind, their owners following behind. Welcome to executive pet travel.
The dogs and their owners are boarding an aircraft chartered by K9 Jets, a specialist pet aviation company founded in 2023 by Adam Golder, a former media advertising manager who identified a gap in the market.
He said: “The cost of cargo shot up during the pandemic, by up to 400 per cent in some cases. There are about four million dogs shipped by cargo every year but the cost had gone through the roof.
“I was looking for a way to move into aviation and a friend told me that owners were getting together on Facebook to charter jets and share the cost between them.”
Golder saw an opportunity, one that would have K9 Jets charter the planes and sell the seats, taking away the stress and uncertainty from the owners.
He said: “The issue with Facebook is there is a real risk of scammers. There was a lot of money floating around and always the concern it could disappear. There was clearly a demand for a company to take on the risk and handle the finances.”
It launched in March 2023 with an initial route between London and New Jersey. “In one night we sold half a million dollar’s worth of tickets,” Golder said. “It was crazy.”
Today the company has flown more than 3,000 pets across the Atlantic and to Dubai. Other private jet outfits have also reported a surge in the number of people looking to book planes along with their furry friends.
Paul ClarkeAs well as a leap in the cost of cargo space, pet owners — many of whom became inseparable from their pets during successive lockdowns — fear what might happen to pets shipped in the hold, where they can face fluctuating temperatures, poor ventilation and inappropriate handling.
VistaJet, a private aviation company, reported an 86 per cent increase in pet travel between 2019 and 2021. It said one in four of its passengers now travelled with a pet.
Last year BARK Air, a US operator that works on a similar model to K9 Jets, launched. It flies many domestic US routes but also some transatlantic routes. The company said it had taken the “white glove experience typical of a human’s first-class experience and redirected all that pampering to pooches”.
On K9 Jets, pets get a seat but the treats — and champagne — are reserved for their owners.
“There’s an open bar and catering for the passengers, but we don’t encourage the dogs to be fed,” Golder said. “That’s just from a toileting perspective. We’ve flown 3,000 pets and only had a handful of toilet accidents in that time.”
The London-New Jersey route remains the company’s most popular and it flies three or four times a month. It also travels from New Jersey to Lisbon and Paris, as well as from London to LA, Toronto, Dubai and, launching in June, Miami.
Tickets from London to New Jersey cost $8,925 (£6,727) one-way, including the pet and its owner. The Gulfstream planes hold nine passengers and nine pets.
“Just the cargo costs of shipping an average golden retriever would be £5,000,” said Golder. “And that’s not [including] a seat for the owner which would be a few hundred quid more in economy.”
As a result, he said, many passengers were “just average people that want the best for their pets, and would never want to put them in cargo”.
The most common reason for booking is people relocating for work, many of whom have a company contribution towards the cost of uprooting their lives.
“The lovely thing about it is that the passengers on board always have the same common theme,” Golder said. “They love their pets and just want the best when getting from A to B.”
The most common dog breeds to travel by private jet
1) Golden retriever
2) Labrador
3) French Bulldog
4) Cockapoo
5) Goldendoodle
