tcook052

Could be a hairy flight.

$100k Air Canada Charter To Fly Stranded Pets To Australia

A rather special flight is set to take place at the massive cost of AUS $100,000 (US$70,458). The flight will leave Vancouver carrying some 70 pets belonging to Australian nationals. The specially charted flight will reunite the pets with their owners after months of separation due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

sokolov

That's the full cost of chartering a one way to Australia? Sounds too cheap.

guessaaa

I wouldn't be surprised if there was other cargo onboard to help offset costs. 70 pets don't take up that much room.

YOWgary

YVR-MEL is normally operated as a passenger route by a 789 with 298 seats, and the cheapest seat-sale fares were still well over $1,000 round-trip even in Economy.

So, no, it's not terribly likely that a one-off, one-way charter on that route costs anywhere near as little as $100K AUD / $94K CAD, and I'm willing to assume that the rest of that aircraft - one imagines one of the converted 773s - is full of cargo.

...bit surprised to see SimpleFlying publish this article with a picture of a 333 that can't operate that route. You expect that kind of thing from the Globe or CTV, but an av-specific blog?

caziz

"At the massive cost" these guys sound like CNN

tracon

$100,000 is about $6/mile.
Now way a charter is that cheap.

If you were to cut this advertised rate in half, you'd be closer to $30,000CDN/hour.

How much does it normally cost to ship a pet over this distance?

lokijuh

Reading the article, the $100k AUD is surely an error.

It is reported that one owner expects to pay $20k to bring home 2 dogs, another $10k.

Adam Smith

The author is said to have "close relationship with suppliers such as Boeing", so you'd think they could get that right...

​​​​​​Perhaps you don't read SimpleFlying much though? Pretty typical of their low standard. Obvious typos, e.g. "Australian’s living in Canada". Nonsensical sentences like "The two German Shepherd traveling with their owners will cost over AU$10,000 (US$7,000) to fly home." - is it really going to cost A$10K to take two pets as luggage, or is that the cost of the owners' tickets?

It also says that one owner expects to pay A$20K to fly his pets home. If there are 70 pets, this should be costing far more than A$100K. Or does the A$20K include a bunch of other costs? Not explained.

I usually don't bother reading their stuff because of the low quality.

FlY2XS

I like the pic of the Golden and the Husky. Looks like they are talking.
H:"You're talkin' F right?"
G:Nope Celcius
H: Man I'm gonna die!!

hoipolloi

But how much does it cost Air Canada to operate that flight ?

petit_manchot

It’s very possible that the 20k includes a whole lot of other fees. When looking at estimates to ship our two small dogs back to Aus from the Middle East, the flight itself forms only a small part of the cost.

As an example, the rabies test that they must have min. 180 days before export is going to cost approx ~1000AUD per dog. Then there are other tests, paperwork, vet fees, stamps, and the cost of the 10 day quarantine in Australia (plus all of the paperwork, vet fees, stamps etc that are required again on the Australian end as well).

edited to add: domestic animals can’t enter Australia as excess luggage, they must be manifest cargo, which adds substantially to the cost.

YOWgary

I mean it's got to be at least a hundred bucks, right?

sokolov

Why are there so many Australian pets in Canada?