Flying with a pet
on Singapore Airlines.

1. Ordinary pets travel outside the cabin

Singapore Airlines’ ordinary-pet service is checked baggage for dogs and cats. Pets over 32 kg including the container need arrangements through a cargo agent. Contact the airline at least two weeks before departure.

Sources: Singapore Airlines: travelling with pets.

2. Check age and breed before choosing cargo

The main pet page excludes pregnant animals.

The June 2026 checklist sets a three-month minimum age. Its listed breed exclusions, including crosses, expressly apply to both cargo and checked baggage. Examples include French Bulldogs, Pugs, Persian cats and Scottish Folds. These examples are not the complete list.

The main webpage describes its breed list under checked baggage only. Treat the checklist’s wider cargo restriction as a material condition to resolve, rather than offering cargo as a workaround. Do not apply ordinary-pet exclusions automatically to a qualifying assistance dog.

Sources: Singapore Airlines: June 2026 checked-pet checklist and indemnity form (PDF) · Singapore Airlines: travelling with pets.

3. Check aircraft, direction and connections

Checked pets are excluded on Boeing 737 flights, SQ21 Newark–Singapore and SQ23 New York–Singapore. The page suggests SQ25 as a New York alternative, subject to acceptance.

Checked-pet exclusions include both directions for Australia, Brunei, Bali, Gatwick, Manchester, New Zealand and South Africa; arrivals into Heathrow, Dubai and Hong Kong are also listed. Transfers to or from other airlines are not accepted.

Confirm the complete itinerary in writing. A city being served by the airline does not show that its pet service is available on every flight.

Sources: Singapore Airlines: travelling with pets.

4. Use the airport checklist when choosing a crate

Published maximum crate heights are A350: 70 cm; A380: 60 cm; B777: 101 cm; B787: 111 cm.

The main page requires ventilation on at least three sides; the checklist specifies openings on four sides. Use the stricter construction checklist and obtain confirmation before purchase. It permits one-piece construction or, for a two-part crate, a nut and metal bolt in every joining hole. A leakproof floor and accessible water provision are also required.

Fit must allow natural standing, sitting, turning and lying down. Send the airline photographs of the assembled crate and your pet inside it. Our carrier measurement guide explains how to prepare those measurements.

Sources: Singapore Airlines: travelling with pets · Singapore Airlines: June 2026 checked-pet checklist and indemnity form (PDF).

5. Plan documents and handovers separately

Read the checklist and its attached indemnity form before travel. Its airport guidance is at least two hours before departure, or three hours when departing the USA.

Make a separate document plan for each border and transit. Record which authority issues each document, its validity dates, where originals must be presented, and who collects the pet. Airline approval should be recorded alongside those documents, not used as a substitute for them.

For an ordinary dog or cat being imported through Changi, appoint an AVS-recognised pet agent before arrival for import clearance and arrange the inspection appointment in advance. Use our Singapore entry guide for the applicable booking window.

CAPQ is closed on weekends and public holidays; out-of-hours arrivals remain with the ground handling agent until the next working day. Singapore Airlines says SATS provides water but does not feed or walk pets during that holding period. Its separate transit guidance says the same for pets transferred to SATS on Singapore connections longer than six hours. Confirm the care plan and crate supplies before choosing those timings.

Sources: AVS: Changi clearance and opening hours · Singapore Airlines: arrival and transit handling.

These ordinary-pet import arrangements should not be applied automatically to an AVS-recognised assistance dog. Check AVS’s separate assistance-dog import process and the airline’s assistance team.

Avoid designing the journey around a minimum connection time intended for passengers alone.

Sources: Singapore Airlines: June 2026 checked-pet checklist and indemnity form (PDF).

6. Price the pet separately

Pets do not use the free baggage allowance. U.S. routes use a two-piece charge; other routes use combined weight. Prepaid baggage discounts do not apply.

Request an itinerary-specific quote and identify transit, inspection, agent and terminal charges separately. A cargo quotation needs its own scope and acceptance confirmation.

Sources: Singapore Airlines: travelling with pets.

Genuine assistance dogs have a separate process

Singapore Airlines accepts task-trained assistance dogs, including psychiatric service dogs, subject to its conditions. Emotional-support, comfort, companionship and in-training dogs are excluded from that definition. Qualifying dogs can travel in the cabin without an additional carriage charge; the airline asks for 48-hour notice and a minimum age of four months.

Dogs must be controlled and cannot occupy a seat or obstruct access. India and U.S. documentation have dedicated sections; other destinations have a separate list. Import and transit rules still apply.

The assistance page lists possible cabin restrictions into New Zealand and to/from Gatwick, Brunei, Bali, Dubai and the Maldives. For its listed restricted breeds, additional behaviour documentation may be required; a suitable muzzle must be available, with harness and leash used throughout the flight. Review this assistance-specific policy rather than substituting the ordinary-pet breed list.

Sources: Singapore Airlines: assistance dogs.

U.S. forms and breed protections

Under U.S. air-travel rules, psychiatric task training can qualify, but a purchased certificate or vest does not make an ordinary pet a service dog. Where those rules apply, a direct-threat or disruption refusal requires an individual assessment, not a breed-based assumption.

Singapore’s U.S. document list links both DOT forms. The federal relief-attestation threshold is eight hours or more. The federal advance-form rules include a gate-submission option for late bookings. Confirm how the airline applies these rules to the booked segments, with government entry documents handled separately.

Sources: U.S. DOT: service-animal guidance · 14 CFR 382.75: service-dog documentation · 14 CFR 382.79: individual assessment of service dogs.

Prepare a route review

Send the cities, dates, operating flights, whether the owner will accompany the animal, and the pet’s breed, age, weight and measurements. Add photographs of the carrier, its outside dimensions and loaded weight, plus any airline response already received.

Ask for a plan that identifies the booking channel, document deadlines, transfer arrangements and unresolved acceptance questions. Request a route review. For a separate shipment, also see travel without the owner.

Questions before you book

Related reading: Airline pet travel guides · Carrier fit and preparation · Destination guides · Pet shipping cost guide.

Official sources and scope

• Singapore Airlines: travelling with pets
• Singapore Airlines: June 2026 checked-pet checklist and indemnity form (PDF)
• Singapore Airlines: assistance dogs
• U.S. DOT: service-animal guidance
• 14 CFR 382.75: service-dog documentation
• 14 CFR 382.79: individual assessment of service dogs
• AVS: Changi clearance and opening hours
• AVS: assistance-dog import process

Official sources checked October 11, 2026. Source differences and access limits are identified where they affect planning. Eligibility, capacity and price require confirmation for the actual animal and itinerary.