Flying with a pet
on China Airlines.

1. Ordinary pets travel in the hold

China Airlines accepts household dogs and cats as accompanied checked baggage in the aircraft hold on eligible China Airlines or Mandarin Airlines operated flights. This is not an ordinary-pet cabin service. A qualifying trained service dog follows a separate policy.

Some destinations or airports require animals to travel as cargo. That is a separate acceptance and booking question; a checked-pet reservation or the fees below do not confirm a cargo shipment. This guide covers direct accompanied journeys and does not provide connection or interline procedures.

Sources: China Airlines Pets: Basic Regulations and charge selector · China Airlines Service Dog.

2. Reserve pet space before travel

Contact the airline’s booking department through its local offices at least 48 hours before departure to confirm the transport conditions and charges. Prior application is required. Have the flight, breed, age, animal weight, loaded-crate weight and external crate dimensions ready, and retain the airline’s acceptance for the actual flight.

The published ceiling is eight cages per flight and two cages per passenger occupying a seat, including a child or infant with a seat. Each container holds one pet. These are separate flight, passenger and container limits, and none guarantees availability. Local animal-number or handling-weight limits may be lower.

If you are travelling with both a dog and a cat in separate crates, disclose that combination when requesting space. The reviewed policy does not establish a specific same-flight dog-and-cat incompatibility rule; it also does not guarantee that every species mix can be loaded. Do not put two animals together in one container.

Sources: China Airlines Pets: Basic Regulations and charge selector · China Airlines local offices / booking contact.

3. Check the animal, aircraft and route

Dogs and cats younger than ten weeks are not accepted. The airline excludes animals with a strong odour, limits pregnancy acceptance to no more than 40 days, and says pets may not be accepted within seven days of giving birth. Destination entry rules can impose a higher minimum age or additional conditions.

Checked pets are not accepted on aircraft identified in the policy as B738 or 32C. They are also not accepted between Taiwan and Hong Kong. Heat-related restrictions prohibit pet transport between Taipei and Phoenix from April 1 through October 31 each year.

Airport handling capacity may impose a limit on the combined animal-and-crate weight. A price band for a heavier pet is not permission to exceed an airport’s handling limit.

Sources: China Airlines Pets: Basic Regulations and charge selector.

4. Breed restrictions can rule out the flight

The prohibited dog list includes Pit Bull Terrier types (American Pit Bull Terrier, American Pit Bull, Staffordshire Bull Terrier and American Staffordshire Terrier), American Bully, Fila Brasileiro, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino, and the listed mastiffs: Neapolitan Mastiff, Tibetan Mastiff, Bull Mastiff, Cane Corso and Dogue de Bordeaux. Crosses of the restricted breeds are included.

The airline permits its listed short-nosed dogs and cats, including crosses, only within narrow route and seasonal conditions: Taiwan–China excluding Beijing, Taiwan–Japan excluding Sapporo, and Taiwan–Korea from December through March; or Australia–New Zealand from April through November. Total transport time must be less than six hours, including flight and ground time, and the crate must be one size larger than normally required. This is a description of the airline’s limited policy, not a general approval for a short-nosed pet.

The short-nosed dog list names Affenpinscher, Boston Terrier, Boxer, Brussels Griffin, Bull Terrier, Chinese Pug, Chow Chow, Dutch Pug, English Bulldogs, English Toy Spaniel, French Bulldogs, Japanese Chin, Japanese Pug, Lhasa Apso, Pekinese, Pug, Shih Tzu and Tibetan Spaniel. The cat list names British Shorthair, Burmese, Exotic, Himalayans, Persians and Scottish Fold.

Pets Delivery Expert plans brachycephalic journeys in the cabin only. China Airlines’ ordinary checked-pet service therefore does not provide that cabin option.

Sources: China Airlines Pets: Special Restrictions.

5. Check the crate before buying it

Use a rigid-plastic container with one entrance door, ventilation on all four sides, and construction that prevents escape or exposed claws. China Airlines accepts a one-piece container or a body secured with nuts and bolts; its illustrated rules reject screw-secured and snap-latch assemblies. Send photos of the proposed fittings if there is any doubt.

The pet must be able to stand naturally without touching the roof, turn around and lie down. The published sizing method uses nose-to-tail-base length plus half the ground-to-elbow height for container length; twice the shoulder width for container width; and the height to the higher of the head or ear tips, plus bedding, for container height.

The published maximum external height is 70 cm and maximum external width is 90 cm. The page does not give a universal maximum length. Check the full external measurements against the booked aircraft and airport handling limits; satisfying the width and height figures alone is not approval.

Provide absorbent bedding, a Live Animal label and containers filled with food and water. The crate must have no wheels, and all four sides of the door must be secured with zip ties. The airline recommends an external protective net or packing straps as additional reinforcement. Follow the airline’s full crate instructions and confirm how supplies should be prepared for the journey.

Sources: China Airlines Pets: Container Regulations.

6. Check the ticket issue date before using a price

The pet and its container are outside the free baggage allowance. Weight-based charges use their combined weight. China Airlines’ October 6, 2026 announcement applies revised charges to tickets issued on or after October 16, 2026. The trigger is the ticket’s issue date, not simply a flight departing on or after October 16.

The linked revised tariff quotes USD amounts. For Taiwan–Zone 1 the published amounts are USD 400 at 32 kg or less and USD 640 above 32 kg; Taiwan–Zone 2 is USD 525 / 840; Taiwan–Zone 3 is USD 600 / 960. Zone 1 includes Japan, Korea, Palau, Guam, Hong Kong, China, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia. Zone 2 is Myanmar, Australia, New Zealand and India. Zone 3 lists Los Angeles, Ontario, San Francisco, New York, Vancouver, Phoenix, Hawaii, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Vienna, Rome, London and Prague. A destination appearing in a tariff does not override a route ban.

Two published price presentations need ticket-date reconciliation when obtaining your quote. On October 14, the live pet page still instructed readers to double the fixed rate above 32 kg. Its Taiwan–Zone 3 selector displayed USD 400 per piece for its “under 32KG” category, whereas the new PDF gives explicit 32-kg-or-less and over-32-kg amounts. The current selector also includes Seattle, which is absent from the new PDF’s pet Zone 3 list. Ask China Airlines which tariff applies to the ticket and airport; do not infer a new Seattle price or calculate the revised heavier-pet fee by doubling.

The live page says collection uses the departure date’s local-currency exchange rate and that CAD applies only to departures from Canada. Confirm the actual amount and currency, the unit covered by the quote, payment arrangements, and what happens after a ticket reissue or pet cancellation. The reviewed announcement does not establish a per-sector fee unit or pet-specific refund terms.

If the crate’s total dimensions exceed 292 cm (115 in), the pet page adds a charge equivalent to two pieces of excess baggage, on top of the pet charge, subject to hold space. This surcharge does not waive the crate’s external height, width, fit or handling requirements.

Sources: China Airlines Pets: Basic Regulations and charge selector · China Airlines Travel Advisory, 6 October 2026 fee adjustment · Revised baggage and pet charges, PDF page 3.

7. Prepare airline and destination documents separately

Prepare two copies of China Airlines’ Passenger’s Declaration for Live Animals (Baggage): give one to the check-in counter and attach the other to the container. Carry all destination-required veterinary certificates, permits and other records. The airline warns that incomplete or inaccurate documentation can result in refusal, return or quarantine at the passenger’s expense.

For dogs entering the United States, China Airlines instructs passengers to obtain the airline-provided air waybill when booking, print and sign it, and present it at check-in and entry. Ask the local office for it if it has not arrived. The airline also requires the applicable CDC documentation. This airline instruction is not a complete US import checklist and should not be treated as the same rule for cats.

For an ordinary dog or cat arriving directly in Taiwan with its owner, use our Taiwan entry guide alongside the airline reservation. It covers the origin/residence category, preparation, permit and quarantine decision, official export certificate and arrival inspection. It does not cover connecting journeys, commercial shipments, mainland-China permissions, regulated breeds or other special cases.

Sources: China Airlines Pets: Basic Regulations and charge selector · Passenger’s Declaration for Live Animals (Baggage) · Pets Delivery Taiwan direct-arrival guide.

8. Arrange check-in and arrival

China Airlines asks passengers to arrive at the airport with the pet and check in two hours before departure. Confirm any earlier station-specific reporting time when booking. Bring the approved crate, both declaration copies, the required original documents and the pet booking confirmation.

Before departure, ask the arrival station where the pet is released, which documents and identification are needed, and whether quarantine staff or a handler must receive it. No universal arrival collection counter or release time was verified. Airline carriage does not grant entry permission: customs and animal-quarantine authorities make that decision at arrival.

For a direct Taiwan arrival, follow the permit and APHIA inspection instructions described in the Taiwan guide. Do not plan an immediate journey home if detention is required; arrange collection around the authority’s actual release decision.

Sources: China Airlines Pets: Basic Regulations and charge selector · Pets Delivery Taiwan direct-arrival guide.

9. Service dogs have a separate application

A trained service dog supporting a qualified passenger with a disability may qualify for cabin carriage without a pet transport charge on international China Airlines or Mandarin Airlines operated flights under the airline’s route-specific service-dog rules. Contact the hotline or local office at least 48 hours ahead. The required evidence and forms depend on the route and assistance category; confirm the applicable process rather than treating a pet booking as cabin approval. Cabin-space rules still apply, and an additional seat purchase may be required under the service-dog policy; a waived pet transport charge does not guarantee there are no other costs.

Emotional-support animals are treated as pets and use paid checked baggage. The airline’s non-US itinerary table also assigns psychiatric-assistance dogs to paid checked carriage. Review the dedicated service-dog policy for the actual journey. This guide does not expand those rules into a connection or interline workflow.

Sources: China Airlines Service Dog.

Before committing to the journey

Confirm the animal and breed, operating aircraft, pet space, crate measurements, loaded weight, ticket issue date and written price. Keep the destination approval and airport handover plan with the booking. Send your proposed direct route, dates, pet details and crate measurements if you would like Pets Delivery Expert to review the plan.

Related planning

Related reading: Airline pet travel guides · Taiwan direct-arrival planning · Carrier fit and preparation.

Official sources and scope

• China Airlines Pets: Basic Regulations and charge selector
• China Airlines Service Dog
• China Airlines local offices / booking contact
• China Airlines Pets: Special Restrictions
• China Airlines Pets: Container Regulations
• China Airlines Travel Advisory, 6 October 2026 fee adjustment
• Revised baggage and pet charges, PDF page 3
• Passenger’s Declaration for Live Animals (Baggage)

Official China Airlines policy tabs and live tariff selector checked October 14, 2026. Revised fees use the October 6 announcement and its attachment. Published tariff differences, airport-specific handling and refund questions require airline confirmation.