Travelling with assistance dogs

Your assistance (e.g. guide, hearing) dog is welcome to travel with you in our aircraft cabin without additional charge—as long as it complies with specific conditions, as well as the regulations of your departure, transit, or destination country.

For a smooth journey with your assistance dog, prepare the required documentation well in advance and inform your local Singapore Airlines office at least 48 hours before your flight departs.

Flying with an assistance dog

Required documentation

Restricted breeds

Specific destination restrictions

Assistance dogs are accepted for travel on board Singapore Airlines flights. With effect from 1 April 2023 (0000hrs SGT), Singapore Airlines no longer allows customers to travel with their emotional support dogs on board flights.

Due to flight safety requirements, seats in the emergency exit row are not available.

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Flying with an assistance dog

Assistance dogs are trained to perform certain tasks to assist persons with disabilities. To fly with an assistance dog, the dog must be at least 4 months old, be trained to obey commands, behave appropriately, and must not pose a direct threat to the health and safety of other customers.

During the flight
Smaller dogs (no larger than the size of a 2-year old child) may sit on your lap while larger dogs must sit on the cabin floor in front of the passenger seat. A moisture absorbent material must also be placed on the cabin floor underneath the dog at all times.

Additionally, all dogs:

- must not occupy a seat
- must be leashed or kept in a pet carrier at all times
- must not obstruct the legroom of other customers
- must not block the aisle or emergency exit

Unless your assistance dog is of a restricted breed, a muzzle is not necessary. However, you are encouraged to have a muzzle with you.

Arrival in Singapore 
You do not need to check in a pet transport container if you are travelling with your assistance dog that is recognised by AVS. On arrival in Singapore, your assistance dog will undergo a veterinary inspection. If all the veterinary conditions for import are met, and your dog is clinically healthy on arrival, it will be allowed to enter Singapore. You may find the import procedures and requirements for assistance dogs here. 

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Required documentation

To comply with animal import regulations and protect the health and safety of all our customers, we require documentation if you are travelling with an assistance dog. You are also required to present the original documentation when checking in at the airport.

	Required documentation
Assistance dog Trained to assist those with disabilities, such as guide dogs, hearing dogs and mobility assistance dogs.	❏ Import and/or export permits (subject to country-specific regulations) ❏ Transshipment licence, if your dog is transiting through Singapore ❏ Veterinary health certificate ❏ Rabies vaccination letter. A rabies certification is not required if your country/region of export falls within Category A of Singapore’s Animal & Veterinary Service’s rabies risk categorisation.

If your flight duration is more than 8 hours, you will have to provide additional documents to certify that your assistance dog will not need to relieve itself on the flight, or that it can do so in a way that does not create a health or sanitation issue on the flight.

If your assistance dog is of a restricted breed, you must provide additional documents regarding your dog's behaviour.

 

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Restricted breeds

If your assistance dog is of a restricted breed (including crosses) listed below, we will require additional documents regarding its behavior before we can accept your dog in the cabin. You must have a suitable muzzle available and your dog must also be harnessed and leashed throughout the flight.

The restricted breeds are as follows:

• Akita
• Boerboel
• Bull Terrier
• Doberman Pinscher
• Dogo Argentino
• Fila Brasileiro
• Mastiffs, including Bull Mastiff, Cane Corso, Neapolitan Mastiff, and Dogue De Bordeaux
• Perro De Presa Canario
• Pit Bull, including American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, American Bulldog and Staffordshire Bull Terrier
• Rottweiler
• Shepherd Dog, including Belgian Shepherd Dog, East European Shepherd Dog, and German Shepherd Dog
• Tosa

For more information, get in touch with your local Singapore Airlines office.

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Specific destination restrictions

Due to specific destination import and export regulations, we may not be able to accept assistance dogs to travel in the cabin into or out of the destinations below.