Iberia Pet in Cabin

We flew from Tokyo to Madrid with Iberia Air with a pet in cabin. We took the flight in December, not too long after the route started. This is the only direct flight route between Japan and Spain. However, at 16 hours it’s a very long flight! Due to flight restrictions, the flight heads up towards Greenland and then down back into Europe. On the return leg, you go the other way, meaning you a round the world trip.

Iberia Pet in Cabin Requirements

In order to fly with a pet in cabin with Iberia Air, you must comply with a few requirements. Firstly, of course, you must have all the relevant documentation for the country you are headed to. Plus the following restrictions;

1. A maximum weight of 8 kg, including the container.
2. The maximum container size is 45 cm (length) x 35 cm (width) x 25 cm (height). The sum of these dimensions must not exceed 105 cm.
3. The pet crate must be well constructed and ventilated. At least 16% of the total surface of the four sides, with a safe, leak-proof floor.
4. Birds must be transported in a strong cage with a secure lock and non-spillable food and drink. The cage must be kept covered at all times.
5. Two small, lightweight animals of the same species can be transported in a single container.
6. You are responsible for the pet travelling with you and you must ensure that it does not inconvenience nearby passengers. In addition, your pet must remain inside the container for the duration of the flight.
7. We do not accept animals with special characteristics, e.g strong odour, that may inconvenience other passengers and crew.
8. For safety reasons, you cannot travel with your pet in a seat next to the emergency exit.

You are allowed to fly with a pet in cabin on Iberia in both economy and business class cabins. The fees for flying as a pet in cabin vary depending on your destination;

Booking The Flight

Once we met all requirements, we did a live chat with Iberia on social media to confirm there was a pet space available on the flights we wanted to book. Once they confirmed there was space, we booked the flights. After, we contacted the social media team again and added the pet to the booking.

Check in at Narita Airport

We did our export papers with Narita quarantine a couple of days before the flight to make the flight day as smooth as possible. At the check in desk we handed over our export certificate, our EU health certificate and our vaccination records. As the route was new, I was the first pet in cabin they had, so it took them a long time to check everything.

Surprisingly, the check in agent actually measured my Sturdibag which was quite a shock. We were expecting them to weigh me, but they didn’t. I’ve never heard of a bag being measured for size, but the Japanese are generally sticklers for the rules.

We had to sign a disclaimer all in Spanish agreeing to the pet rules. We were given a copy of this which basically said you would be responsible if the dog made any mess etc. After about 30 minutes we were given our boarding passes and lounge access and were free to go through security.

As we had the pet stroller, we were given a luggage tag for it. However, we were allowed to take it through to the gate, which was extremely helpful. We put the Sturdibag inside the stroller and wheeled it through the airport.

Before going to security we headed outside for a final pee break.

JAL Sakura Lounge

We were given lounge access to the JAL (Japan Airlines) Sakura lounge as Iberia is part of the OneWorld Alliance. As I mentioned earlier, I was the first pet to be flying in cabin no this route, so the staff weren’t sure what to do. Since dogs aren’t allowed in cabin on JAL they don’t expect pets to head to the lounge. After about 15 minutes back and forth, confirmation I wasn’t a service dog and that I wouldn’t eat the food area, we were allowed inside. Result!

We didn’t have much time in the lounge since check in took so long and we took time for wee wees. After about 10 minutes we decided to head to the gate.

The Seats

We chose 2 window seats for the long flight, one behind the other (4A & 5C). 4A has the seat right next to the window with a side cabinet to the right. 5C has the cabinet to the left so the seat is closer to the aisle. I sat in 5C. When we booked the seats we saw a 360 view of the seats which we used to help see which seat had the most space.

We were scheduled to be on the older A350 plane. However, we quickly realised the plane had been upgraded to the new Iberia Air A350. Whilst this would be a welcome surprise to most, this was bad news for us. The new A350 has privacy doors which close and offers features such as being able to connect your own headphones via Bluetooth.

However, the new A350 seems a lot more cramped than what the older one looked like. In 5C, the only space for my Sturdibag was on the floor in front of the seat. Due to the space, the bag had to go on a slight angle. There was no space to put it between the cabinet and the seat in front.

In 4A, the space available was to the right, next to the aisle. It originally looked like this would fit in the carrier, but it was too narrow. This was bad news as it meant there was no option to recline the seat at all. First world problems I know, but when you’ve paid so much for business class, on a 16 hour flight it’s frustrating.

We will see on the return flight if we get the expected older plane and compare the difference. As it looked like there was way more space on the older model for the carrier to fit.

Safety Issue

One other issue that we had with having the carrier in this position was a big safety issue when travelling with a pet in cabin on Iberia. Whilst this is a great option for humans travelling without a pet, for us we found a big safety issue. In order to control the seat and it’s positions, there is a touch screen panel at the side of the seat. This is EXTREMELY sensitive.

Without knowing, mammy accidentally pressed the bed button with her arm when leaning over to get something. This makes the seat move into the bed position. Which is where I was in my carrier. No matter what she did, she couldn’t stop the seat moving, and it was starting to crush my bag. Thankfully daddy managed to apply enough pressure to stop the seat moving and we got my bag out of the way quickly. But this could have gone very, very wrong.

We have fed back to Iberia, that when a pet is occupying the floor space, these controls should be switched off so no accidents can happen. I hope this is taken on board because this was very scary for us. Even knowing how sensitive it was, mammy did accidentally press it again later in the flight. This time, she knew how to stop it as she wasn’t panicking.

Great Crew

Thankfully, the crew on board were excellent. When we explained the situation about the seat/bed, they did see if I fit in the space in daddy’s seat. When they saw I didn’t, they said we could put the carrier on the console table at the side of the seat. This was a game changer. It was the perfect position as the carrier fit there perfectly. It also meant I was at head height so felt included and not stuck on the floor. Not forgetting it meant that mammy could put the seat out and turn it into a bed.

I stayed here for the entire flight and it was perfect. I slept for the vast majority of the flight. Only when the food came did I wake up and become a little bit whiny. As I miss a meal before the flight I was hungry and really wanted some food. But we couldn’t risk any toilet accidents. Once the food had gone I settled back down again. As the rules state I have to be inside the carrier, they don’t specify if has to remain closed. So we opened the front slightly to give a bit more sense of freedom. Only when mammy was awake though and also I was tied in to my bag so no escape plan could be enacted.

Landing

16 hours after take off we landed in Madrid. Landing was smooth and I wasn’t affected by it at all. The only problem we had was that the stroller wasn’t brought to the plane. We had to go to the luggage collection to get it. Which was quite a walk, so it was a bit of a pain carrying the Sturdibag all that way and we didn’t see any trolley either.

While we waited for the luggage I managed to have some yummy chicken. Once the luggage arrived we headed straight to customs to get my papers checked and stamped. Then we were free to go and we headed outside for a wee. It took a few minutes for me to go, so humans were pleased I wasn’t bursting. I didn’t even do a poo until the next morning!

We are pleased the flight went well, although that still doesn’t mean we are looking forward to the return leg! We do hope we get to try the older A350 on the return leg so we can see if the space is larger, like it looks on the seat selector. We’ll let you know after that flight!

Let us know your experience of flying with a pet in cabin in the comments below, if you’ve ever flown with Iberia.

Woof woof, Wylie x

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