It’s not always easy to travel with your dog, so this American airline has decided to offer a special service. The flight is described as a first-class experience, with “Doggie Champagne” served on board.
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“If you think this is a joke, you don’t like dogs.”explains a BARK Air promotional video, “barks” meaning “to bark” in English. The first advantage with this company is that you do not go through the usual airport security and arriving 45 minutes before departure is enough. The dogs then meet a few minutes before takeoff in the same room to get to know each other and get used to each other.
On the plane, the flight is described as a first-class experience with music, pheromones to calm the animal and dog food, of course. No leash necessary, unless the animal misbehaves. Knowing that after the reservation, BARK Air contacts the owners to discuss the specifics of their dog. In the menu, on board, “Doggie Champagne”, chicken broth and donuts, among others. The staff is trained to care for animals, of course. And each passenger will receive their wings, this little pin that we sometimes give to children who fly for the first time.
The boss of the company in a cage in the hold on a video
Behind this airline, itis a partnership between Talon Air, a charter company, and BARK, a New York-based publicly traded company, with a subscription service that sends packages of products to two million dogs each month. BARK Air uses two Gulfstream G550s, we are more on a private jet than a large carrier. The parent company has apparently been considering the idea since its launch in 2011.
Matt Meeker, the boss of BARK, spoke of the experience of his Great Dane, who traveled a lot with his master and in often delicate conditions, since he is a large dog. Matt Meeker even posted a video online where he is filmed himself, locked in a cage to travel in the hold like an animal. It only lasted an hour, but it was all “particularly terrible”, he said, “the noise, the darkness, the absence of water and food”. It will be very different with this new airline, which hopes to soon add a small park in the aircraft for dogs to have fun in the sky, under the eye of their master of course.
New York – Los Angeles: $6,000 one way
The risk is that it will be a… niche market! Because not everyone, even an owner determined to offer the best to their pet, will be able to afford a ticket. The company offers two destinations from Westchester County, near New York, for the moment: Los Angeles, or rather Van Nuys, a small airport north of the city, and London, but Stansted, not Heathrow. Count on 6,000 dollars one way for LA, 8,000 for England. Flights start next month. THE Washington Post interviewed a travel industry expert. According to him, there is no doubt that the concept will interest customers. But will there be enough of them to make the business viable? Pet Airways, on a similar principle, ceased operations in 2011 after four years of activity. BARK Air is aware of the high price and hopes to reduce it over time. In addition, it has, through its subscription service, a large customer base to rely on.