The British have long been known as a nation of pet lovers and this year our four-legged friends are celebrating 10 years of flying in style with Virgin Atlantic.
As the first scheduled airline to carry cats and dogs from the USA into London Heathrow under the Defra Pet Travel Scheme, Virgin Atlantic has flown over 15,000 pets since the “Flying Paws” scheme launched in 2003 to destinations as far flung as Cape Town, Los Angeles and Sydney.
To celebrate its 10 year anniversary the airline is working with the Canine Cookie Company to give a “Happy Barkday” cake for dogs and a ‘purrfect” birthday cake for cats and is also giving owners extra miles for their Flying Club account.
John Lloyd, Director of Cargo, Virgin Atlantic commented, “Since the introduction of the Pet Travel Scheme in 2003, we have quite literally taken the lead in providing a pedigree service for our furry friends and we are seeing more and more passengers trusting us with their precious cargo.
“We’ve transported so many breeds all around the world – ranging from Siamese cats to Australia and Yorkshire terriers to the Far East. We’ve carried animals for customers who want to make sure their pets also get a holiday in the sun, for those staring a new life abroad and we’ve even flown police sniffer dogs trained in the UK to the Caribbean.
There have been a number of famous faces spotted travelling with their pets around the world - John Barrowman famously takes his dogs back and forth across the pond – and a number of furry celebrities also choose to fly Virgin. Uggie, the star of Oscar winning film The Artist flew to Los Angeles to attend the Oscars and Mugly, “the ugliest dog in the world also flew with Virgin when he travelled to the USA to claim his ugliest dog accolade.
Entertainer John Barrowman who is a regular user of Virgin Atlantic’s pet cargo service said, ‘My dogs are part of my family so when work takes me to America, as it does regularly, I want my family with me. I trust Virgin Atlantic with my dogs, Captain Jack, a Jack Russell, and Harris, a cocker spaniel.’
