Trip to UK 2019 (with a dog)

Can’t bring a dog to the UK via private (non AOC) aircraft as far as I know. You’d likely have to land at calais and take the eurotunnel (not sure you can take on foot, you might need in a taxi or something like that)

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pet-travel-approved-air-sea-rail-and-charter-routes-for-the-movement-of-pets

How bringing pet by car is different from bringing it by aircraft?

Also what’s not clear is whether you can bring assistance dog on GA flight – there’s separate section on this but still it’s not precise.

You must follow pet travel rules if you enter or return to the UK with your assistance dog.
These transport companies have agreed with the Animal and Plant Health Agency how they’ll check assistance dogs meet pet travel rules on these routes.
If you travel from an EU country, you can use other companies and routes, but you should check they:
accept assistance dogs
check pets meet travel rules
Your dog could be quarantined and you could be delayed if:
you travel with a company that isn’t registered with APHA
your assistance dog doesn’t meet pet travel rules

Tell your wife to fly by CAT to the UK with the dog, and join her with the plane.
It’s cumbersome I know

Edinburgh has a reputation of being expensive, but I leave that to the experts here

Jujupilote wrote:

Tell your wife to fly by CAT to the UK with the dog, and join her with the plane.

Or fly first to Ireland and then to UK from there. It seems to be allowed according to links provided above.

Emir wrote:

Or fly first to Ireland and then to UK from there. It seems to be allowed according to links provided above.

Yes, I was surprised in the links it is applicable to UK but you exempt if inbound from Ireland & CI & IoM
So, I was expecting similar rule in Ireland, CI, IoM legislations (Irish gov websites of course), but it is not the case

https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/pets/bringingyourpetcatdogorferretintoireland/

In order to bring an animal into the U.K. you must be an “approved carrier” . The channel Tunnel, some but not all Ferry companies, and some airlines are “approved carriers” as are some small AOC holders the likes of which operate out of Biggin Hill, Lydd, Southampton, Oxford, Cambridge etc.
All but one Ferry company insist that the dog stays in the car.
Channel Tunnel doesn’t take foot passengers.
You could get a taxi (or a friend) to come from Folkstone to Calais and bring one of you and the dog to the nearest airfield to Folkstone whilst you fly across the Channel.
Then there is the Ireland route.
If you PM me there might be one other way.

Flypiper wrote:

Thanks for your valuable information. I didn’t think there was a difference between using a car or GA regarding pets

You are pointing to an issue we often discuss in our club on training cross border flights. Many, if not most, in Europe believe GA is similar to traveling by car, but it is not. The free travel treaties almost never address private GA flights and the traps are manifold. Carrying a pet is quite difficult already, so we usually advice to let all pets at home when flying GA, but carrying passengers can be much more dangerous. Do you ever check the passports (and consequently under which treaty they travel and what limitations that has) of your friends when flying GA? I was quite surprised when I had my first foreign buddy telling me he cannot go on our PA28 because he was not allowed to travel this way by visa restrictions. As I am not a lawyer I don’t know the exact wording, but when I interpret correctly visa do allow certain kind of travel and crossing borders in Europe has to be done over agreed routes, points and procedures – GA is not on the list of the ordinary travel methods and there are some subtle differences between EU, Schengen and all that other scrub paragraphs. We do have American friends still insisting on land at EDXF, take a 7 miles trip by car to EKPB and re-board there, when crossing the German-Danish border.

Markuus wrote:

I was quite surprised when I had my first foreign buddy telling me he cannot go on our PA28 because he was not allowed to travel this way by visa restrictions. As I am not a lawyer I don’t know the exact wording, but when I interpret correctly visa do allow certain kind of travel and crossing borders in Europe has to be done over agreed routes, points and procedures – GA is not on the list of the ordinary travel methods and there are some subtle differences between EU, Schengen and all that other scrub paragraphs. We do have American friends still insisting on land at EDXF, take a 7 miles trip by car to EKPB and re-board there, when crossing the German-Danish border.

I have Googled for this in every manner I can think of and can find absolutely no reference to it. Can you provide some reference or official source? I have flown, and plan to fly again in future, through Europe with friends who are present on a Schengen visa, but have never heard of this.