Tex Visits SkyPets at London Biggin Hill
Another recent outing for Tex, PrivateFly’s resident Labradoodle, was to experience the SkyPets facility at London Biggin Hill airport. SkyPets is the airport’s dedicated facility for handling private jet flights with domestic pets.
Pet owners are a growing customer group for private aviation, which offers the ability to travel with your pet in the cabin. Find out more about private jet charter flights with pets.
Biggin Hill is set in a rural area, just to the South East of London, so Tex was able to let off some steam and enjoy the acres of green space around the airport before the flight. At the FBO, he was greeted warmly and made to feel calm and welcome immediately from the moment we arrived.
Pets are welcome anywhere in the terminal, but departing pet owners go into a dedicated SkyPets handling area next door, to undergo the required checks before boarding the aircraft.
The team will check the pet’s passport and micro-chip before boarding. As with human private jet passengers, these checks are performed efficiently and with the minimum of disruption. Usually at London Biggin Hill this takes just a matter of minutes, after which pet and owner can board the aircraft.
For flights with pets arriving into London Biggin Hill, a member of the SkyPets team will board the aircraft and check the pet’s passport and micro-chip in the presence of the owner. The owner and animal(s) are then free to disembark.
London Biggin Hill was the first private jet airport in the London area to receive approval to handle pets on private jet flights, under the UK government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Pet Travel Scheme.
This experience certainly shows as the team are very skilled at handling animals, and clearance time can be very fast indeed, providing the documentation has been received and checked beforehand.
Overall Tex gave the experience at London Biggin Hill a resounding wag of approval. A well-established choice of London airport for private jet passengers and pets alike.
Find out Tex’s take on the pet handling facilities at ExecuJet Cambridge.
For more advice on private jet travel with pets, contact us or call our 24-hour Operations team on +44 1747 642777.
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