Hi

I am making plans to have our 2 dogs shipped from the UK to Melbourne. The shipping company have given us 2 options and I am hoping someone here will have experience to share.

Option 1: 22 hour direct flight Heathrow to Melbourne
Option 2: A 7 hour stopover in Dubai where they get out for exercise

I want them to have the least stress and I know it's probably a personal choice, but does anyone have any thoughts?

I would imagine that takeoff and (the moment of) landing would be high-stress times, and therefore should be minimized. Also the temperature in Dubai may not be to your dog's liking.

Conversely the stop over would be a time to check on your dogs, and ensure they have food and water. One of the dogs belonging to my sister dislodged it's water supply and arrived (after a transatlantic flight) in a dehydrated condition.

Heathrow to Melbourne will have a stop in it somewhere, even if only for 1-2 hours. Probably either Singapore or Dubai.

Hi Pulaski and Pollyana

Thanks to you both for responding. There is no stop in option 1.
But I hear you on the double take off and landing.

I'd love to know which airline is now doing non-stop to Melbourne? Must be totally cargo

QANTAS announced London-Perth and London-Melbourne non-stop flights starting in March 2018. I don't see any current direct flights, unless, as you suggested, they are cargo only flights.

There are no non-stop pax flights UK to Aus at present. I know QANTAS are talking of starting next year, but at present every pax flight has a stop.
Qantas's main London-Melbourne flight only stops about 90 minutes to refuel, just long enough to get evryone off and back on again, but its still a stop.

Don't know if there are any cargo-only flights that take pets, but that'd be the only way to get a non-stop at present.

No, they didn't announce LHR-MEL nonstop. The routing of the 787 flight is actually MEL-PER-LHR-PER-MEL.

However the OP might not have been wrong when they said 'direct'. In airline lingo this doesn't mean the same as non-stop. Any flight which keeps the same flight number on the 2 sectors is 'direct'. So Qantas already flies 'direct' between Australia and London.

But there are no non-stop flights between London and Melbourne, passenger or cargo.

I see that now - I was reading a poorly-written article. At the time of the announcement I only heard about London-Perth non-stop, so was surprised to hear Melbourne mentioned, and yes, Melbourne is "direct", not "non-stop".

Will just mention the Dubai stop as that is where my little one went.


They are unloaded from the aircraft into an air conditioned vehicle and taken to an air conditioned animal centre where they have their own run and can eat and drink (though ours couldn't be fed due to medical issues) they can stretch their legs and are checked by a vet. Then taken to the next flight in the air conditioned vehicle.

Thanks everyone - I am going to contact the shipping people for more info

Hey verystormy, we're in the process of organising our 2 year old French bulldog to come over with us. Quick question if I may, when they land in Dubai and are taken to the dog area if we are on the same flight can we go and see them? Thanks

Get them Qantas Club. They can join you in the lounge. The only good thing about Dubai Airport.

Not wrong there! And they'd probably be better behaved than some of the clientelle

Ok - so I have more info to share:

Option 1: There is a stop in Dubai, in which the dogs are unloaded, taken out of the crates to stretch their legs and then reloaded for the next step
https://www.dkc.ae/what-we-do/global...port-oversight

Option 2: It's not a dedicated cargo flight - it is a passenger flight. Even though it is a direct flight, there is a two hour stop at Dubai for refuelling etc , so someone will go and check on the dogs and refresh the water, but they won't be taken off the plane until they get to Melbourne.