Plan animal travel
with Norwegian.

Choose the right travel option

Ordinary cats and dogs: cabin travel or accompanied checked-hold travel is available only on specified routes. Check the cabin and hold sections separately. Other pet species have no verified passenger pathway here.

Assistance dog: use the separate service-dog process below. Norwegian Cargo does not accept live-animal freight; its website directs accompanied animals to checked baggage (AVIH). The passenger page’s wording “cargo hold” does not offer an unaccompanied cargo service.

Sources: Passenger pet policy · Service-dog policy · Norwegian Cargo limitations.

Check the carrier on every flight

Norwegian’s operations page names two active air-operator certificates: Norwegian Air Shuttle and Norwegian Air Sweden. Conditions clause 2.1.3 limits their scope to DY/D8 flights. Article 1 also retains Norwegian Air Norway (DH), but that contractual mention is not evidence of a third active operator.

For a DY/D8 journey, the conditions distinguish the actual operator and say they still apply if another carrier operates the flight. They do not extend Norwegian’s pet policy to a Widerøe or other-airline flight under a different code. Ask Norwegian to confirm animal acceptance on every operating flight, including any substitute aircraft. A brand name or flight code alone does not confirm animal space.

Sources: Conditions of carriage · Norwegian flight operations.

Reserve the animal, not only your ticket

Book a pet online or through Norwegian’s Contact Centre; an existing reservation can be amended online if animal space remains. Reserve early. The reviewed pet page gives no fixed advance-booking deadline, so do not borrow the service-dog recommendation or ordinary baggage deadline.

Before paying, provide species, breed or cross, age, animal measurements, loaded-carrier weight and dimensions, every flight and the return journey. Obtain confirmation for each animal and container, not simply a passenger ticket. Ask about per-passenger totals, multiple carriers and combined cabin-plus-hold travel: these allowances were not established in the reviewed rules.

Sources: Passenger pet policy · Norwegian Help and Contact.

Cabin: route, carrier and available places

Eligible routes are within Schengen and/or the EU, excluding Iceland; only dogs are accepted to/from Madeira. Svalbard flights are dogs-only. Do not assume the same access for a route outside this list.

The pet and carrier together must weigh no more than 8 kg. Maximum carrier dimensions are 43 × 31 × 20 cm; a soft carrier must compress to that size without preventing the animal from standing, turning and lying comfortably. Use a leakproof pet carrier under the seat and keep the animal inside throughout the trip.

Norwegian publishes two cabin pet places per flight. Up to three very small puppies or kittens sharing one container can be booked as one animal within the same weight and size limits. Do not extend that exception to adult pairs or mixed species. The page gives no same-litter or weaning condition for it; confirm eligibility and how your group uses the quota.

With LowFare, the permitted underseat-size hand bag goes overhead. With LowFare plus an overhead bag, LowFare+ or Flex, choose one underseat or overhead bag in addition to the pet, not both.

Sources: Passenger pet policy.

Checked hold: crate and shared-container limits

The accompanied-hold route list covers Schengen and/or EU flights except Ireland and Iceland, plus Svalbard flights for dogs only. Unlike the cabin list, it does not exclude cats to/from Madeira. Obtain route-specific confirmation rather than borrowing the cabin rule.

Maximum crate size is 125 × 81 × 86 cm (length × width × height). The pet page states no weight restriction for this mode; do not substitute ordinary suitcase limits, but confirm handling and aircraft suitability for a heavy crate.

Two familiar cats or two familiar dogs may share a crate if similarly sized and each weighs no more than 14 kg. A dog and cat cannot share. Animals outside those conditions need separate crates. No flightwide hold-crate quota or per-passenger crate total was verified.

The animal needs natural standing, turning and lying space. Use a solid, clean, escape-proof, leakproof crate with absorbent lining, four-sided ventilation, safe openings and an externally accessible fixed water bowl. Do not use a welded-mesh crate, or newspaper, cardboard or straw as lining. Secure or remove wheels, bring cable ties for the door, and label the crate with the owner’s name, address and mobile number.

Sources: Passenger pet policy · Norwegian Cargo limitations.

Connections require a separate check

Published hold connections are domestic within Norway, through Oslo Gardermoen, Bergen Flesland or Trondheim Værnes, with a transfer of 1–2 hours; Svalbard is excluded.

The same page says an international-to-domestic arrival requires collecting the animal, customs clearance and check-in again. This handling instruction does not override the restricted hold-connection list. Ask Norwegian whether the proposed journey can be accepted at all, and whether separate bookings or re-checking are involved. No general cabin-connection allowance was verified.

Sources: Passenger pet policy.

Check fitness, age and short-nosed-animal risks

No general minimum pet age, weaning age, pregnancy rule or exhaustive breed list was verified. Give Norwegian the animal’s actual details and confirm acceptance; a puppy-sharing provision does not establish eligibility for a particular young animal.

Ask your vet whether the animal is fit to fly. Norwegian discourages sedatives and warns that hold temperatures can fall to 0°C or rise on the ground; no numeric weather-embargo threshold was verified.

For snub-nosed pets, Norwegian requires a release at check-in. The linked form covers both cabin (PETC) and hold (AVIH), describes serious respiratory risks and includes a liability release. Read it before committing. Signing does not establish medical fitness. The service-dog page separately advises veterinary consultation for short-nosed dogs.

Sources: Passenger pet policy · Snub-nosed-animal release form · Service-dog policy.

Documents and airport timing

Conditions clause 10.8.1 requires valid health and vaccination certificates, import permits and other documents required by destination or transit authorities. The pet page requests an English certificate for international flights. Ask which certificates, originals and translations are needed on your actual route.

Airline acceptance and border permission are separate. Check identification, vaccination timing, health certificates, permits, treatment, approved arrival points and inspection arrangements with the authorities for every entry, transit and return. This is a planning list, not a complete country-entry checklist. Great Britain’s government guidance applies animal-entry rules to assistance dogs too.

For ordinary pets, complete check-in at least one hour before departure. Allow additional time for document inspection and animal handover. Ask where to collect a hold animal at arrival and what happens after an aircraft change or disrupted connection.

Sources: Passenger pet policy · Conditions of carriage · GOV.UK: bringing animals to Great Britain.

Price the whole journey

The English EUR pet page checked on 23 October 2026 lists cabin charges of EUR 55–75 online or EUR 60–85 at the airport, and hold charges of EUR 150–180 online or EUR 170–200 at the airport, per animal each way. These are published ranges, not a quote or a promise of airport availability.

Ask for the payable total for the exact itinerary, shared-container booking, return, sales currency and any service or reception charges. The optional-services page distinguishes charges that follow fare refund rules from always-nonrefundable charges; obtain the pet-specific change/refund answer rather than assuming a ticket refund also refunds the pet. Qualifying assistance dogs travel free in the cabin under the separate policy.

Sources: Passenger pet policy · Optional-service charges · Conditions of carriage.

Assistance dogs: training, booking and space

Norwegian describes assistance dogs as trained to assist a person with a disability. Its policy includes dogs in training and free cabin carriage on most flights, subject to the route rules below. Book preferably at least 48 hours ahead; this is the airline’s recommendation, not a verified universal refusal deadline. Use the Contact Centre for UK, Svalbard and connecting itineraries; other direct requests can be made online.

Identification may be an ID card, written documentation, harness or tags. Those identifiers do not alone demonstrate accepted training. Ask Norwegian what evidence it accepts for your dog, including an owner-trained dog or a dog still in training. No general minimum age, dog count, weight ceiling, muzzle rule or extra-floor-space procedure was verified. Do not apply the ordinary 8 kg pet allowance to an assistance dog.

The dog must be on duty, identifiable and sit or lie on the floor in front of the passenger. Arrange suitable floor space in advance. Norwegian requires a human safety assistant if you need help with its listed emergency or personal-care tasks, such as using emergency equipment, eating, taking medication or using the toilet. Review that separate requirement when booking. Attend the check-in counter at least one hour before departure and the gate at least 30 minutes before Schengen flights or 45 minutes before other flights.

The conditions mention emotional-support dogs but provide no verified acceptance procedure. Emotional support alone must not be presented as approval for this assistance-dog pathway. Police and search-and-rescue dogs have their own route rules; they are not automatically disability-assistance dogs.

Sources: Service-dog policy · Conditions of carriage · Travelling with a safety assistant.

Assistance dogs: UK, Ireland and other route restrictions

Norwegian’s assistance-dog cabin route list covers all flights except connections via the UK; the additional airport and entry restrictions below still apply. Published assistance-dog hold travel is limited to direct flights within Schengen and to/from Svalbard. Police/search-and-rescue cabin travel is limited to Schengen, with the same direct-only hold geography.

For UK-bound flights, Norwegian requires training and certification by a full-member ADI or IGDF organisation and an arrival pre-approval letter at check-in. Do not export this UK-specific rule to every route or describe it as a universal certification law. The airline requires travellers to contact the named England or Scotland animal-reception service at least 48 hours before departure. Confirm the correct service for the actual arrival airport.

For entry into or transit through Ireland from outside the EU, Norwegian’s page asks for advance DAFM approval and a letter at check-in. The linked government guidance could not be live-verified during this review. Confirm today’s process with DAFM and Norwegian; the airline’s reference to a freight exemption is not a verified statement of current Irish law.

For journeys between non-EU/EEA and EU/EEA countries, Norwegian publishes an approved-border-control-post restriction. Have Norwegian and the responsible authority confirm the exact airport and entry procedure. This airline wording is not a complete legal rule for every non-commercial animal movement.

Sources: Service-dog policy · GOV.UK: bringing animals to Great Britain · Irish government: pet travel (live verification unavailable).

Svalbard needs earlier preparation

Mattilsynet’s current Norwegian guidance requires permission to bring a dog to Svalbard and says a complete application should arrive four weeks before travel to allow a timely answer. It prohibits bringing cats and ferrets. Its document checklist includes identification, vaccinations, rabies-antibody testing and parasite treatment; follow the authority’s current instructions for your dog. The four weeks concern application processing, not the total time needed for veterinary preparation.

Confirm the return before leaving: the authority warns that periods without a veterinarian on Svalbard can prevent the required treatment and documentation for return to mainland Norway or the EU/EEA. Norwegian’s dog acceptance does not solve that problem. Ask both the airline and Mattilsynet about each direction; do not convert the airline’s broad “to/from” permit wording into a universal government permit rule.

Sources: Mattilsynet: dogs travelling to Svalbard (Norwegian) · Passenger pet policy · Service-dog policy.

Resolve these points before paying

Ask Norwegian to confirm the exact operating flights and mode, space for every animal and carrier, age and breed suitability, shared-container eligibility, connections, total price and what happens after a schedule or aircraft change. For an assistance dog, add training evidence, floor space and route-specific pre-approval.

Keep the written answers with the booking and recheck if the itinerary changes. Use the journey worksheet to keep airline permission, government entry, veterinary preparation and public-access rules separate. These are planning recommendations, not extra airline rules or guarantees of acceptance.

Sources: Norwegian Help and Contact.

Related planning

Related reading: Service-dog planning · Journey worksheet.

Official sources and scope

• Passenger pet policy
• Service-dog policy
• Conditions of carriage
• Norwegian Cargo limitations
• Snub-nosed-animal release form
• Optional-service charges
• Norwegian Help and Contact
• Mattilsynet: dogs travelling to Svalbard (Norwegian)
• GOV.UK: bringing animals to Great Britain
• Irish government: pet travel (live verification unavailable)
• Norwegian flight operations
• Travelling with a safety assistant

Official airline sources checked 23 October 2026. Government Svalbard guidance was checked in Norwegian. Irish government guidance could not be live-verified; its current procedure remains for confirmation.