Ready for takeoff: Finally there is a way for owners to treat their pooches to a dignified mode of flyingThe passenger in the seat next to mine yawns contentedly as we taxi along the runway. He hardly stirs when the engines start to roar and the plane accelerates before lifting into the sky.
By the time our sleek, six-seater jet reaches cruising height his head has dropped and his eyes have closed.
During the two hour hop to Palma, on the island of Mallorca, where his family has a holiday home, my neighbour eschews his complimentary glass of Moet and Chandon champagne and is tempted neither by the inflight entertainment or the pile of glossy magazines.
Dogs have long travelled alongside their owners - but only if they are fortunate enough to be owned by someone with their own jet - but is is all about to changeHe looks every inch the high flyer – prosperous, self-assured, and remarkably well-groomed. My fellow passenger, Dylan, is a dog.
He belongs to a new breed of pampered mutts who, rather than being confined to cages in the hold along with the cargo, sit in their own leather-upholstered seats in the cabin next to their owners.
The service is being offered by Victor - a private jet charter company. It isn’t a cheap option.
Dylan, an eight-year-old miniature Schnauzer, is being charged £1,250 for a seat on a Victor flight to Palma, exactly the same as it costs humans using the service.
The service is offered by a private jet company and it allows owners to travel alongside their beloved dogsAnd a seat is what he gets, not a space on the floor at the back of the plane near the lavatories, not a dedicated mat next to the exit.
At one point, Dylan stares out of the window of the Lear40 jet and seems genuinely enthralled by the wispy cloud formation gathering a few hundred feet below.
He enjoys the landing, too, as we soar over the Mediterranean and as buildings come into focus as the pilot makes his descent.
Happy flyer: Eight-year-old miniature Schnauzer Dylan enjoyed the flight to Palma, Mallorca
Family member: It's not a proper holiday without the dog, says Dylan's owner Isabelle Frank'How can you have a proper family holiday if you don’t take the family dog with you?' asks Dylan’s owner, Isabelle Frank, who live in Putney, south-west London.
'In the past we have put him in the hold but the trauma was terrible for both of us. It used to break my heart seeing him in a crate on the runway waiting to be hoisted on board.'
Apparently Dylan didn’t care for it much either. Mrs Frank says he began to panic as soon as he saw empty suitcases being brought out of the cupboard.
'We tried putting the cage in the house for a few weeks before travelling in the hope that he would get used to it, but he never did.
Strapped in safely: Dylan pictured before takeoff and during the flight wearing a seatbelt
Happy dog: Dylan definitely preferred flying in his own seat to taking the cargo route in a cage'In fact, he would run in the opposite direction and was clearly in distress just at the thought of it. Look at him now. He’s his normal happy self.'
He certainly looks chirpy. Before disembarking, he pauses momentarily at the top of the plane’s steps and I half expect him to pull on a pair of flashy sunglasses or doff a Panama hat to the flight attendant.
Dog days are over: Despite the high cost the company believes many owners will jump at the chance to bring their pets on board
Private flights: No commercial airline allows dogs or cats to travel in the cabin with their owners and many charge high fees for cargo travelOf course, some dogs have long traveled in this kind of luxury. The American socialite Paris Hilton, heiress to the hotel empire, has always taken her various chihuahuas and Yorkshire terriers on trips aboard her private plane.
In this respect she took after the Hollywood actress Zsa Zsa Gabor who was at one time married to the heiresses’ great-grandfather Conrad Hilton.
source: dailymail
Posts
