Chloe Ember

Does anyone have experience flying this or a similar route with a large dog who only fits in a kennel that is sized as an XL (500 size with height extension) or Giant (700)? Any tips?

It seems my options for my border collie/german shepherd mix are:
- Royal Air Maroc: Direct flight from JFK or YUL to CMN, but I have to drive him to JFK or YUL for about 4.5 hours, and will have to rent a car to do this.
- Lufthansa: I can fly them but there's about an 11 hour layover in Frankfurt.
- Air France: has a layover for 3 or 4 hours in Paris.

I have researched the company websites, but welcome any experience-based advice. The websites don't necessarily tell the whole story.

My dog is also able to fly in the States as an emotional support animal, but because it is so complicated, I think I do not want to do this for an international flight.

I believe that I am aware of the veterinary clearances required.
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/pet...travel-morocco

bhomburg

What's the combined weight of your dog and the crate? If 45 kgs or less, your best option is Air Canada Boston-Montreal-Casablanca. The connection is very short with only 45 minutes, total flight time is only nine hours.
AC will accept 700-series kennels (personal experience). The most popular Petmate Vari Kennel brand is pretty much exactly at their size limits.

Second-best option is taking Royal Air Maroc from New York. If your dog is indeed a qualified ESA, fly him BOS-JFK as an ESA on JetBlue (they have the most spacious seating) and then take the nonstop on Royal Air Maroc.
Leave at least three hours between flights for a comfortable connection (you need to change terminals from 5 to 1). JFK has animal relief areas at all terminals, and I always take dogs out for a run around the barren lands surrounding Bergen Basin. Take the Airtrain to Lefferts Boulevard/Long-term parking Lot 9, then walk down Lefferts Blvd until you reach the IUOE training facility. The people there are nice and always allowed us to walk down to the end and back on their land. Tons of rabbits to hunt there - he'll have fun

Lufthansa via Frankfurt with the long layover there - not as bad as it sounds. The long layover will be a welcome break. However, I`d do this only if the animal meets all the requirement to enter the EU (conforming microchip, rabies vaccination, USDA-endorsed health cert paperwork) so you can retrieve him in Frankfurt, get out of the airport and then recheck him for the connecting flight after a nice day in the forest. Frankfurt airport is surrounded by forests with trails - tons of options to let him run off-leash. Get a day room at one of the airport hotels offering such and accepting pets. Recommendations: The Steigenberger Airport Hotel (closest to the terminals, T2 is within walking distance). Cheaper, and a little farther: the Accor properties (there's an Ibis and a Mercure in Kelsterbach), or the Park Inn, which are a short shuttle bus ride away.

I`d do the same with AF through Paris - retrieve the dog, give him an extensive walk and then recheck.
Other options with one-stop, one-airline itineraries with short layovers would be TAP from Boston via Lisbon (this has nicely short flights, but TAP has weight limits), and Iberia from Boston via Madrid.
If your dog isn't able to enter the EU (or you want to take advantage of the cheap ticket prices), you can fly on Turkish from Boston via Istanbul as well. This is less-than-ideal with 18-hour layovers and longer flights, though.

Chloe Ember

This message is edited because I accidentally posted almost identical messages twice, and cannot figure out how to delete. Sorry, just learning how this forum works.

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Wow, thank you so much for all of this information! I didn't see any notification, and only just saw this now. I'm impressed by how much you know.

In case you see this, it turns out that I can change a previously unused portion of an Iberia flight. I cannot fly my dog from BOS to TNG since he's too big to go on the MAD>TNG connection via Air Nostrum, but I can do Iberia from BOS>MAD>CMN as you suggested. I am curious if you have experience with Iberia, and if you know whether they are good to the doggies in cargo? Thanks a million for all this info.

Oh and as for the Frankfurt option -- it's okay to take doggies on shuttles there?

Chloe Ember

The combined weight is 104 pounds, alas too much for several airlines. More below.

Chloe Ember

Oops, I lost whatever I wrote earlier. I wanted first to thank you @bhomburg for your detailed and amazingly knowledgeable response, which I only just saw tonight. I guess I need to actively check back here.

It looks like I can actually take advantage of an unused return on an Iberia flight from BOS>MAD>CMN. They couldn't put him through to Tangier because he's too big, but re-routing through CMN should do the trick.

Do you know if Iberia treats doggies well in their cargo?

I called various airlines and was impressed by both Air France and Lufthansa, but Royal Air Maroc and Iberia both left me feeling a little worried because their agents didn't seem to know much about what happens once the dogs are out of sight.

Air France seems to do some nice things like board the dogs last, and unload them first to minimize their time on the tarmac or in cargo, and keep the owner around for as long as is possible, etc.

Also, do you know if you have to collect all luggage plus dog at any of these various transfer points? I'm a little concerned about that since I'll have with me more than one person can easily carry.

I may just have to drive to JFK to avoid that, but it's pretty far, so I'd have to beg my driver! And I also worry about whether RAM is safe.

And oh, JFK is tempting for rabbit chasing! My dog would love that. But I have a lot of luggage I'd have to transfer along with the doggy, so I think I may have to avoid that route unless I can manage to fly direct.

bhomburg

Most airline general call center agents are not well versed in pet travel. One usually gets a better qualified response enquiring via e-mail.
Animal handling is pretty much standard across IATA airlines. They practically all follow the same procedures. Iberia is as good as any other there. I have flown them a few times with animals within Europe, no issues at all.
The four-hour layover means it's best to retrieve and recheck him in Madrid after some outside fun time - which in turn means you need to comply with the EU animal entry regs.
Beware of this on an eventual return flight. Coming from Morocco which is classified as 'unlisted', you will need to have rabies titer bloodwork (expensive, cumbersome, three-month waiting periods) for your dog in order for him to be able to enter the EU. Customs is rather lax about this most of the time, but I would not take any chances. I routinely route flights from South America to Europe via the USA to avoid this issue, for example.

Flying LH, AF or IB, your bags will be checked through to Casablanca. You will not have to retrieve your bags in Frankfurt, Paris or Madrid unless you deliberately short-check them, so don't worry about having to carry all our stuff around during the layover.
As JetBlue and Royal Air Maroc are partners, they will have interline agreements and you will be able to check bags (other than the dog) through from Boston to Casablanca. So no lugging everything around JFK while transiting.

Dogs are generally OK on shuttles in Western Europe. Especially with Frankfurt airport hotels. I have taken the ones from the Steigenberger and both Accor hotels to and from the airport maybe a dozen times with dogs who were always welcome.

104 pounds is 47 kgs. Borderline. I have no personal experience with AC and how strict they are with enforcing this limit. Putting him on a diet, or selecting a lighter crate to shed those two kgs isn't an option?

Chloe Ember

Useful info, thanks!

I live on the Morocco-Spain border so that EU entry is probably going to be a challenge. I go into Ceuta about 1x/week.

Looks like this flight will be with Iberia.

Hey, do you know if the kennel can have an orthopedic foam pad in it? I can't find an answer for this.

Thanks so much! And how on earth do you know all of this? You could write a book!

bhomburg

If you go to Ceuta once a week, make him a EU citizen by getting a Spanish EU pet passport for him there (at any vet or animal clinic). That will make travel within and especially entering the EU a lot easier for him in the future.

Foam pads are OK. Pretty much the only thing you should not use to line the crate on intercontinental travels is straw or other organic material (for biosecurity reasons), but from newspapers to towels anything is accepted.

Basically, it's all a ton of experience. I happen to travel a lot, both for business and pleasure. Also, I try to act as flight companion for animals every time in addition to taking my [service] dog along.

Chloe Ember

Oh, good idea to get him the EU passport. I will have USDA papers to get him into Morocco. They will certify him for 'transit' into Spain, but I think I am only supposed to use that when at the Madrid airport.

Then once I arrive in Morocco, it is my understanding that he needs to get another clearance to enter Ceuta from there, and that he'll need the rabies titer test, and get stuck for 90 days. I have a vacation planned in September (in EU), so I'm hoping there's a way around that.

Maybe I should just hope the customs folks at the border between Tetouan and Ceuta will be nice (I hear they usually are), and get him an appointment at a vet in Ceuta for right after I arrive. In a pinch, I could show them my transit paperwork from the USDA, which at that point would only be about 5 days old.

So confusing. Piece by piece I'll get this puzzle solved!

bhomburg

The USDA paperwork (link - this is the form you need for Spain, transit or otherwise) is valid for ten days, and you can use it multiple times for entry into Spain (or other EU countries) as long as it is valid. It is not limited to the transit in Madrid.
I can't tell how strict the checks at the Ceuta border are, but I`d wager a bet that as an American with a dog who has valid paperwork (this is is why I`d get him that EU passport soon after arrival, within the validity of the USDA health cert) you will not run into any trouble even without the rabies titer stuff. Technically, even dogs residing in Ceuta who are returning from a day trip to Morocco accompanying their family need to adhere to the regime and have their rabies titer paperwork documented in the EU pet passport, but I haven't really seen this enforced in similar situations (like on the Balkan or on the Turkey-Greece border where there's EU countries bordering unlisted countries as well).