Travelling with an assistance dog | Finnair Australia

Travelling with an assistance dog

Your guide dog, hearing dog or service dog is warmly welcome to travel with you on board all our flights free of charge.

Assistance and service dogs

Certain types of assistance and service dogs that have completed qualified training and possess valid documentation are allowed to travel in the cabin on our flights.

Assistance dogs accepted in cabin Required documents Other restrictions 
Guide dogs and hearing dogs who aid people with sight or hearing disabilities 

 

Certificate of training

 

-
Diabetic alert dogs and seizure alert dogs Certificate of training -
Dogs trained to assist physically impaired people in daily life Certificate of training -
Psychiatric service dogs * US Department of Transportation forms  Permitted only on direct flights to/from the United States 

* On our direct flights to or from the United States, passengers are permitted to travel with a psychiatric service dog that is individually trained to perform tasks for the benefit of a qualified individual with a disability. Please note that you need to fill in the U.S. DOT Service Animal Air Transportation Form. In addition, please fill in the U.S. DOT Service Animal Relief Attestation Form if the animal will be on a flight that takes 8 hours or more.  

Please note that emotional support animals are no longer classified as service animals under the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations, and Finnair will no longer accept or accommodate the emotional support animal classification. 

Service dogs accepted in cabin * Required documents Other restrictions 
Narcotic detection dogs Certificate of training and explanation of the mission Permitted in cabin only on official search or rescue missions 
Search and rescue dogs Certificate of training and explanation of the mission Permitted in cabin only on official search or rescue missions 

* Service dogs that are not travelling on an official search or rescue mission need to travel in the hold of the aircraft. 

During the flight 

Your assistance or service dog can travel in the floor space in front of your seat. When the fasten safety belt sign is on, the dog should be placed under the seat in front of you. In case you’re wondering if there is enough room for your dog in the cabin, please contact our customer service to have more information.  

We hope that this checklist will help you to prepare for your flight with your assistance or service dog: 

  • To ensure smooth departure and arrival to your destination, please make sure that your dog complies with all the sanitary requirements in the departure and arrival countries.  
  • Make sure you have all the necessary paperwork ready. 
  • As flying can be exciting for animals, it is good to make sure that your dog is comfortable with travelling and accustomed to different circumstances on the way.  
  • To show others that your dog is travelling on duty, we recommend it wears a harness or something similar. 

Let us know you are travelling with your assistance dog

Please let us know about your dog at least 48 hours before your flight through the special assistance form or by contacting our customer service. The easiest and fastest way to contact us is via chat. We will ask some details about your dog, including its breed and size. You can track the status of your assistance or service dog request in Manage booking and see the confirmation there once it is given. 

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