Transporting animals in the aircraft
You can take your dog or cat with you on Lufthansa flights. Please read the following information carefully before booking a flight with your pet.
A good trip for your precious pet
Depending upon the kind of animal, its weight and size, and the regulations applicable in different countries, transport is possible at an extra cost either as additional carry-on baggage in the passenger cabin or as excess baggage in the passenger aircraft’s air-conditioned cargo hold. Lufthansa Cargo also offers the transport of the above-mentioned animals and other species as air freight. Special rules apply to assistance dogs. Please note that because of local circumstances and restrictions, the transport of large animals in the cargo hold to certain destinations is not possible.
New entry requirements for dogs to the USA
The entry requirements for dogs to the USA have changed as of 1 August 2024.
Based on the new requirements of the US national public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), new bookings for dogs to the USA can currently only be accepted to Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami, New York-JFK, Philadelphia and Washington DC.
Update: with immediate effect, the transport of dogs to Newark (EWR) is possible again, provided that your dog has not been in a high-risk area (rabies) in the last six months before entering the USA.
The transport of animals as air freight to other destinations is also still possible. For this, please contact an animal freight forwarder.
We ask you to acquaint yourself with the new requirements in good time.
In preparation for your dog’s trip, you must, among other things, complete online the form provided by the American authorities, the ‘CDC Dog Import Form’. After you have submitted this form, confirmation will be sent to the email address you have provided. On the day of departure and when entering the USA, you must present this confirmation in digital or printed form.
If you do not fulfil the CDC requirements, we must, unfortunately, inform you that you will be denied carriage.
Thank you for your understanding.
Already confirmed bookings will be accepted after 1 August 2024 provided all CDC requirements can be fulfilled. Full details of the requirements can be found on the CDC website.
It is the passenger's responsibility to comply with all requirements. Failure to present the documents required by the CDC upon check-in will result in transport being refused.
We continue to offer the following options if a dog's booking was confirmed before 3 July 2024:
- Rebooking without taking a dog with you
- Refund of the ticket
For further inquiries, passengers are requested to contact our Service Center.
The transportation of assistance dogs remains possible in compliance with the new CDC regulations, provided all CDC requirements are fulfilled. Full details of the requirements can be found on the CDC website. It is the passenger's responsibility to comply with all requirements. Failure to present the documents required by the CDC upon check-in will result in import/transport being refused.
If passengers already have a confirmed booking for themselves and their assistance dog, we ask that they contact our Service Center.
What travel options are there for the different types of animals?
The transport options for animals with Lufthansa depend upon the kind of animal, as well as its weight and size. Further information can be found on this page and the following pages.
Only smaller dogs and cats weighing no more than 8 kg including their transport container may be transported under certain conditions as additional carry-on baggage in the passenger cabin. Larger dogs and cats, and all other animal species regardless of their weight and size, are not allowed in the cabin.
For all flights (excluding the USA)
You can register to take your pet with you into the cabin yourself under My bookings. We recommend that you make your booking at least 72 hours before departure. Otherwise, please contact the Service Center up to 24 hours before departure. Lufthansa also reserves the right to apply stricter regulations where necessary and refuse bookings on certain routes (such as to the UK or Ireland, for example) to exclude the animal from travel.
For USA flights
For flights from or to the USA, you must register at least 72 hours before departure via the following form. Otherwise, please contact the Service Center up to 24 hours before departure.
For you to take your pet into the cabin as carry-on baggage, we require your confirmation for all flights that the animal meets the stated requirements. Please present two printouts of the completed and signed form at the check-in counter to confirm this.
Please note: the form is not required for assistance dogs on direct flights to/from the USA.
Dogs and cats weighing more than 8 kg including their transport container may be carried as excess baggage in the aircraft’s air-conditioned cargo hold under certain conditions. You must register no later than 72 hours before departure. Otherwise, please contact the Service Center up to 24 hours before departure.
For the carriage of all other animals, please contact Lufthansa Cargo.
You can take your assistance dog with you on board Lufthansa flights free of charge. Please find out about the general requirements for taking an assistance dog into the aircraft cabin with you.
Special regulations apply to taking fighting dog breeds with you when you fly.
Dogs and cats belonging to snub-nosed breeds have anatomically restricted airways with the accompanying difficulty in breathing. For this reason, there are special instructions and rules for transporting these animals.
If you are unable to travel together with your pet, if country regulations stipulate that animals must be transported by air freight, or if you would like to transport an animal not listed on lufthansa.com, it is possible to have your animal transported as air freight. Varying prices apply to shipping animals as air freight (for example, with Lufthansa Cargo). For this, you need a carrier who specialises in transporting animals. You can find the contact details of one near you with the help of the animal freight forwarder search.
If you have any questions about this, the Lufthansa Cargo Service Centre will be happy to assist you further. You can contact them in Germany on tel. 0180 6 – 747 100 (calls cost €0.20 per min. from the German landline network; max. €0.60 per min. from mobile phone networks).
General advice on transporting animals on Lufthansa flights
Please note the minimum age of the animals to be transported. For dogs and cats the minimum age is:
- 12 weeks,
- and 15 weeks for carriage from/to/via Germany.
- If you are travelling to the USA: 6 months for dogs
Please make sure that you find out about the import and export regulations applicable to your pet in your departure, transit and destination countries in plenty of time and before booking your flight. Such information is available from the relevant consulates, for example. Please also ask your vet about applicable animal welfare provisions for travelling with your pet. Obtain all the travel documentation required for your pet so that nothing will stand in the way of your trip.
In the event of Lufthansa having to refuse the carriage of your pet because of non-compliance with the regulations, Lufthansa is not liable for any resulting costs (e.g. rebooking charges, animal boarding costs, hotel accommodation).
Lufthansa also reserves the right to refuse to transport animals in the cargo hold if there are extreme weather conditions at the destination. This can happen at short notice or seasonally.
Please note: each passenger is allowed to take a maximum of two animals with them (in an approved transport container). Animals can be transported in the cabin and/or in the cargo hold:
- 2 animals of the same species in the cabin in a pet carrier, or
- 1 animal in the cabin and 1 animal in the cargo hold, or
- 2 animals in the cargo hold in 2 separate transport containers, or
- 2 animals of the same species in the cargo hold in one transport container.
Special animal welfare provisions apply to the transport of several animals in one transport container:
- A maximum of 2 adult animals of comparable size that are used to each other and weigh up to 14 kg each may travel in one cage.
- Up to 3 weaned puppies or kittens may travel in one transport container if they come from the same litter, are not older than 6 months, and each weighs no more than 14 kg. Please make sure you find out about any differing country-specific regulations, where applicable.
Lufthansa does not accept pregnant animals.
Due to the risk of rabies, there are currently restrictions on importing dogs into the USA. You can find detailed information about these CDC restrictions and the possibility of obtaining an exemption on the website of the United States Centers for Disease Control.
If you have an existing booking confirming transportation of a dog, please contact our Service Center.
For new bookings, please note the new transport restrictions. Only dogs that are at least six months old will be accepted.
You can find further information about these restrictions and the possibility of obtaining an exemption on the website of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The restrictions apply to all dogs transported into the USA by aircraft, including assistance dogs.
You can find further information about the transport restrictions here:
All the regulations mentioned here apply exclusively to flights operated by Lufthansa. For code-share flights, therefore, please make sure that you check the regulations of the airline operating the flight. If you are travelling with several airlines, please ensure you have confirmation from all the airlines concerned that they will also transport your pet.
Your pet must be registered in good time and have been confirmed by Lufthansa, i.e.:
- up to 72 hours before departure online or via your travel agency, or
- 24 hours before departure at the latest in the Lufthansa Service Center.
For assistance dogs, the deadline of 48 hours before departure applies.
As the allocation is limited, we recommend that you book your pet in early, preferably at the same time as you book your own flight.
- If possible, get your pet used to its transport container at home before the journey by putting it into the closed transport container several times for about two hours at a time and rewarding it afterwards with a treat.
- Many pets are very nervous before and during a flight. Nevertheless, you should think very carefully about whether you wish to tranquillize your pet with medications. This makes it difficult to predict how your animal may react. It can, for example, cause circulatory problems during the flight. Please ask your vet’s advice about this.
- Put your pet’s "comfort blanket" and its favourite toy in the transport container in order to soothe and calm it with familiar smells.
- Ask your vet how to adapt your pet’s food for the flight, if necessary.
Online and mobile check-in 30 hours before departure is possible for all passengers travelling with animals. You must collect your boarding pass from the check-in counter at the airport.
You are also welcome to take your four-legged friends with you into our lounges. Please understand, however, that out of consideration for our other guests, your dogs or cats should not be allowed to wander freely around Lufthansa lounges and should await their onward journey in their transport box or pet carrier. Assistance dogs are exempt from this regulation.