Choose the right animal-travel route
with Air Arabia.

Choose the right travel category

• Ordinary cats, dogs and other pets: the published passenger terms exclude animals from the cabin or the hold as checked baggage apart from the stated falcon exception. A small carrier or purchased baggage allowance does not create a pet booking.
• Falcons: conditional cabin carriage is described below.
• Manifest cargo: a separate enquiry, not an automatic alternative or a passenger baggage add-on.
• Service or assistance dog: request an operator- and route-specific assessment. The reviewed airline pages do not establish a complete dog-acceptance procedure.

Sources: Passenger conditions: §§1, 2, 5, 7.4 and 11.5 · Animals and pets · Cargo conditions: §§3.4, 4, 5 and 6 · Passengers with special needs.

Identify the operating airline, not only the brand

The shared conditions identify separate airlines: Air Arabia PJSC (G9, UAE), Air Arabia Maroc (3O, Morocco), Air Arabia Egypt (E5, Egypt), Air Arabia Abu Dhabi (3L, UAE), and Air Arabia DMM (4P, Saudi Arabia). A listing in the conditions is not confirmation that a particular flight operates.

This guide reports shared published wording, not an independently completed operator-by-operator acceptance audit. Give the Help Centre every flight number, date, origin, transit and destination, including the return. Ask which operator accepts the animal on each segment. Do not transfer UAE border rules, cargo-facility details or a G9 approval to Morocco, Egypt or another operator. For a codeshare, obtain the actual operating carrier’s requirements.

Sources: Passenger conditions: §§1, 2, 5, 7.4 and 11.5 · Air Arabia Help Centre.

Falcons: arrange approval and seats in advance

The passenger terms require the airline’s prior explicit acceptance and payment of the applicable charges. Arrange the falcon reservation through the Help Centre at least 48 hours before scheduled departure. Seats are assigned at check-in towards the rear, away from emergency exits. More than one falcon per handler requires extra seat(s); each extra seat allows at most two falcons. Extra falcon seats do not add free baggage allowance.

The published charge is three times the normal excess-baggage rate, not a fixed cash price. Ask for the applicable rate, charging basis, extra-seat fare, taxes and total for every flight before paying.

Confirm the permitted total per handler and per aircraft. Two birds per extra seat is not permission for two in one container, unlimited extra seats or an unlimited aircraft total. No falcon-specific weight, container dimensions, minimum age or flight-wide quota was verified in the reviewed pages. Obtain instructions for the container or perch, restraint, handling and food, and written acceptance of every bird.

Sources: Animals and pets · Passenger conditions: §§1, 2, 5, 7.4 and 11.5 · Air Arabia Help Centre.

Cargo: establish feasibility before buying a passenger ticket

The cargo conditions treat live animals as special cargo, accepted only under the carrier’s applicable regulations. This is not a published assurance that your species, breed, airport pair or date is available. Use the official cargo enquiry channel and request a live-animal assessment, not only a general freight price.

Prepare species, breed or cross, age, animal count, individual body measurements, each empty crate’s external length/width/height and the total loaded weight including animal, crate and contents. Ask which airline and handling agents would perform every leg, whether a cargo agent is required, and whether travel on the same flight as you can actually be confirmed. Passenger space alone does not reserve cargo space.

Before committing to passenger travel, obtain written live-animal acceptance, handover and collection arrangements, the required-document list and a complete quote. Ask when the cargo booking and shipment reference will be issued. The website’s general cargo calculator uses the higher of actual gross and volumetric weight; ask how the live-animal quotation applies that calculation and adds handling, clearance, storage and ground transport. Do not price animal transport from a general-cargo rate sheet.

Sources: Air Arabia Cargo · Cargo conditions: §§3.4, 4, 5 and 6.

Resolve the animal, crate and capacity questions

No route-specific live-animal cargo species list, breed restriction list, minimum age, maximum loaded weight, crate-size limit, crate-sharing rule or numerical flight quota was verified in the reviewed public cargo pages. The absence of a published figure is not permission.

Before buying a crate or accepting a quote, ask the cargo team to confirm:

• Species, breed/cross and age eligibility, including any short-nosed-animal, health or seasonal restrictions.
• Maximum external crate dimensions and loaded weight for the actual aircraft, loading door and station equipment; required construction, ventilation, water and food provision.
• Animals per crate, crates per shipment and flight capacity. For littermates or animals living together, ask about exact age, size, compatibility and total-weight conditions. Do not assume cohabitation creates a shared-crate exception.
• Any limit on combining a passenger-carried falcon with a separate cargo shipment. A cabin allowance and a cargo booking are not a published combined animal allowance.
• Temperature restrictions, transit care and what happens after an aircraft change or delay.

Sources: Cargo conditions: §§3.4, 4, 5 and 6.

Service dogs: ask for the disability-assistance procedure

The reviewed animal page describes falcons; the special-needs FAQ concerns wheelchair arrangements. Neither supplies a complete assistance-dog process. Do not read that gap as either confirmed dog acceptance or a definitive statement that disability-related carriage is prohibited on every route.

Before paying, ask the Help Centre to refer the case to the operating airline’s assistance team. Request its route-specific recognition and training-evidence rules, submission channel, required forms, notice deadline, dog count, age and size conditions, floor-space arrangement, restraint or muzzle rules, relief arrangements and any applicable charge. State whether the dog performs trained disability-related tasks; do not substitute an emotional-support label or a purchased registration for the assessment. No universal Air Arabia certification standard was verified.

Request assistance when planning the booking rather than waiting for the airport. The falcon’s 48-hour deadline is not a verified service-dog deadline. If departure is close, ask the assistance team what can still be arranged under the applicable rules.

Where the applicable EU rules cover the journey, official EU guidance describes free carriage of recognised assistance dogs and recommends 48 hours’ notice for assistance, with reasonable efforts for shorter notice. That is government guidance, not proof of an Air Arabia-wide procedure. Check which protections apply to each direction with the airline and, if unclear, the relevant national enforcement body; do not extend an EU itinerary’s treatment to a wholly different route. For an unresolved EU assistance issue, the guidance points to the relevant national enforcement body.

Sources: Animals and pets · Passengers with special needs · Air Arabia Help Centre · Your Europe: air travel and disability.

Separate airline acceptance from border permission

For falcons, the passenger terms require valid documents demanded by departure, arrival and transit authorities, including applicable animal passports, health or vaccination certificates and entry/transit permits. These are categories to check, not a declaration that every listed document is required everywhere.

For any proposed cargo movement or assistance dog, separately verify the responsible government authorities’ identification, health, vaccination, import/export/transit, arrival-point and inspection requirements, including the return journey. For a falcon, also ask the relevant wildlife authority about protected-species permits. Airline approval does not replace border clearance; assistance-dog recognition is not an automatic entry exemption.

Ask the airline or cargo team exactly which records it must inspect, in what language, with what validity period, and whether originals are required. Keep the approval and booking reference accessible. Submit personal or medical documents only through a verified airline channel. This guide is not a country-entry checklist or a veterinary assessment.

Sources: Passenger conditions: §§1, 2, 5, 7.4 and 11.5 · Cargo conditions: §§3.4, 4, 5 and 6.

Confirm check-in, transfer care and collection

The general passenger FAQ says airport counters open three hours before departure and close one hour before departure. Arrange an animal-document reporting time with the airline; those general times are not a cargo acceptance cutoff or a substitute for special-assistance instructions.

For a falcon, confirm where to report and have the approved seat arrangement checked. For any assistance dog accepted for the itinerary, confirm the meeting point, security process and boarding arrangements. Follow the agreed reporting time even if you already hold a boarding pass.

For cargo, obtain the actual animal-acceptance terminal, cutoff and destination release appointment in writing. The UAE collection page lists general cargo points and on-request airport trucking; that does not establish live-animal handling at every listed location. It also gives inconsistent Dubai freight-gate numbers, so do not navigate to a gate from that page alone.

For connections, ask who keeps custody, provides water and care, and completes any border formalities. Confirm every separate operator and booking, whether any ground transfer is involved, and a workable delay plan. Reconfirm animal arrangements after any change of flight, aircraft or routing.

Sources: Check-in procedures · Cargo delivery and collection points.

Get these answers before committing

1. Which operating airline, flights and airports have accepted this animal and travel category?
2. What written approval or shipment reference confirms capacity, rather than merely recording an enquiry?
3. Are the animal, crate or seating arrangement, quantities, shared-crate proposal and all transfers approved?
4. Which documents, submission deadline, reporting point and handover/collection times apply?
5. What is the complete price and currency, and what happens to the animal booking and charges if the passenger ticket, flight or aircraft changes?

If ordinary pet carriage is essential and no suitable cargo movement has been confirmed, compare another airline before buying the passenger ticket. Record the itinerary-specific answers in the journey worksheet.

Sources: Air Arabia Help Centre · Air Arabia Cargo.

Related planning

Related reading: Service-dog planning · Journey worksheet · Compare airline guidance.

Official sources and scope

• Animals and pets
• Passenger conditions: §§1, 2, 5, 7.4 and 11.5
• Air Arabia Help Centre
• Passengers with special needs
• Air Arabia Cargo
• Cargo conditions: §§3.4, 4, 5 and 6
• Cargo delivery and collection points
• Check-in procedures
• Your Europe: air travel and disability

Official pages read October 23, 2026. Cargo acceptance and assistance-dog procedures remain itinerary-specific questions; no booking or individual animal approval was obtained.