As the old adage goes, a dog is a (wo)man's best friend. This Mumbai-based pet parent proved it right by booking an entire business class cabin just for her and her four-legged child. This is the first such instance when the entire business class cabin was booked to fly a pet in luxury.
The dog, a Maltese, travelled in style after its owner spent over Rs 2.5 lakh to book the business class cabin on a Chennai-bound Air India flight. One-way fare for a single business class seat on the flight is about Rs 20,000.
The dog took the Air India flight AI-671 that left Mumbai last Wednesday at 9 am and landed in Chennai at 10.55 am. According to a media report, the J-class cabin on AI A320 aircraft has 12 seats.
Depending on the required vaccination certificates Air India policy allows animals on flights. A passenger can travel with two pets and based on the size of the animal, they can be accommodated either in the cabin or in the cargo hold. In business class, pets are seated in the last row.
Air India is the only domestic carrier that lets pets in the passenger cabin. Pet traffic was high on Air India last year, according to the report. Between June and September, Air India flew 2000 pets on its domestic flights.