I was driving home from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Wednesday and saw the billboard above and snickered…what kind of April Fool’s joke is this? Apparently, no joke at all. The carrier may not have a Boeing 747 in its fleet, but BARK Air is real and will shortly launch transatlantic and transcontinental semi-private jet service geared toward dog lovers.
BARK Air Will Cater To Dogs, Plans May 2024 Launch
BARK Air will shortly launch two routes from the New York City area geared toward affluent pet owners:
- Westchester County Airport (HPN) ⇄ Van Nuys, California (VNY)
- Westchester County Airport (HPN) ⇄ London Stansted (STN)
Ticket prices will start at $6,000 one-way for travel between New York and Southern California and $8,000 one-way for travel between New York and London.
Here’s how the carrier describes itself:
On the travel day, dogs and their people will arrive at the airport 45-minutes to an hour before the flight for a simple, efficient check-in process – no crates, no stressful TSA checkpoints. A highly skilled BARK Air concierge will welcome all pups and help them settle in to their experience through socialization at the gate and dog-centric cabin preparation.
The cabin will be prepped with calming aids such as: pheromone, music, warm lavender scented refreshment towels, and other comforts to help each dog feel settled. Our concierge will also have a ‘just in case’ bag filled with calming treats, leashes, poop bags, and more will be provided at the gate. Once onboard, dogs will be served their beverage of choice (water, bone broth, you name it), during ascent and descent to ensure they do not experience any ear discomfort commonly caused by the change in cabin pressure. In addition, a variety of BARK-branded treats, snacks, and surprises will be served throughout the flight experience.
Shockingly, this is real…
There’s even a video:
BARK says that its cabins can accommodate up to 15 dogs and 15 humans, but it will limit the manifest to 10 dogs and 10 humans per flight.
BARK Air is a “public charter operator.” It is not a direct air carrier and does not own or operate any aircraft. All flights are operated by a “licensed U.S. air carrier” (we don’t know who yet) using Gulfstream 550 private jets.
The first flights will depart from New York on Thursday, May 23, 2024. You can buy tickets here.
Good Idea…I’m All For This!
I’m no fan of dogs on commercial flights and therefore think this is a great idea. Sure, the high price tag is going to price most people out, but this is a wonderful alternative and I already have pretentious clients (who don’t read this blog) asking me to look into this service.
While too early to say whether this will be a hit, I do think there is potential based on the number of dogs I see when I travel, particularly in premium cabins.
I think this solves two issues. First, it gives dogs and their owners humans a more pleasant way to travel. Two, it gives those of us on commercial flights a much better experience too.
This somewhat reminds of SMINTair (Smokers International Airways), which tried to launch with two ex-South African Airways 747s in 2007 but never got off the ground. The plan was to cater to smokers and offer flights in which everyone could smoke where they wanted, when they wanted. Regulatory changes banning smoking doomed the carrier.
BARK Air also fills a nitch…and that’s what innovators always do.
CONCLUSION
Yes, I am still skeptical that a concept like BARK Air can ever work. But then again, people become irrationally attached to their dogs and so maybe this service will be quite popular in grouping like-minded well-to-do people on private jets and sparing us from dealing with them on commercial flights. I’m all for that!
Can this concept make it?
images: BARK Air
Obviously not a dog owner
POOR soul
This is a winner. Pet parents spend a fortune on their dogs. Being able to transport your pet safely is priceless. My neighbor uses a pet driving service (Texas-Maryland) that was about $2000 last time, so I think the cost is very fair. Good going BARK Air.
Rename it BARF Air .
I’m excited !! Matt, I don’t think you realize how big the pet market is! Hopefully this really takes off!
I give it three months. They should though hire United to do the dog food catering. It’s right up their alley.
At least the dinner service will include courses.
@Matthew, nitch or niche?
I’m curious to know how they’ll handle a pooping/peeing/vomiting dog, like what happened recently. Given the small plane and cabin size, everyone will be stuck with the smells for a long, long time… Perhaps they’ll stock a lot of puppy pee pads to prepare.
For a transcon this is stupid. Nobody is going to pay that.
For flights to the UK there might be a market, but it’s not as simple as “take your dog onboard and fly to London.” UK quarantine rules require registering the animal in advance and having them met upon arrival. There aren’t always officers available, and I’m surprised they exist as STN at all. If BARK doesn’t address this, it makes me think they’re not a serious company because lack of aircraft space isn’t what makes taking a dog to the UK difficult, quarantine regulations to keep Britain rabies free is what is difficult.
All nasty dogs ought to be forbidden to cross borders at airports . They will immediately spread diseases to other dogs . Can you imagine Mexico or Vietnam dogs going into UK ? British quarantine regulations are perfectly appropriate .
That’s a nasty comment.
Dogs bring joy to many people, myself included. I understand many people’s objections to service animals on planes, but nobody is going to force you to fly “BARK.”
Never occurred to me that a racist would even carry over their vile opinions to include the dogs owned by people they look down on, but oh hey, here we are. Alert, you are one of those people that reinforces the reason I like my dogs better than about 95% of the humans I interact with.
We’ve taken our dog twice overseas. Each time we’ve flown into Heathrow. I’m not sure if they even have an animal reception centre at Stanstead. The paperwork is a b$@! to complete and comply with. The USDA isn’t always the most helpful either.
“I already have pretentious clients”
What makes them pretentious?
Skye Pet Travel started in Australia in 2021 and flies between AU, NZ, UAE, Singapore, UK, and USA. Numerous private groups charter flights between the US and Europe for dogs and owners. It’s not out of bounds that a pet company would see a market and want to get in on it.
“But then again, people become irrationally attached to their dogs”
But then again, people become irrationally attached to their snot nosed brats (ie children).
There, corrected it for you.
Thank you for providing that much needed service! What a twat this writer seems to be.
Was this written to deter people from your blog/using you as a travel consultant? Calling clients pretentious and dog owners irrationally attached is an interesting marketing technique.
I don’t want pretentious clients.
All for it! As someone who loves animals and loves to travel, there is no reason NOT to offer this service. People complain all the time when animals are in cabins. Let there be service!
Flying into the UK with a dog is extremely difficult because of the tons of paperwork. It should be any other European city and member of the EU. Much easier. Definitively not well thought through
You’ve obviously missed out on a trend one that will not go away. Aero, JSX, K9jets – wake up!
What if I needed to fly with my 2 cats? Doable????