Your assistance (e.g. guide, hearing) or emotional support dog is welcome to travel with you in our aircraft cabin without additional charge—as long as it complies with specific conditions, as well as the regulations of your departure, transit, or destination country.
For a smooth journey with your assistance or emotional support dog, prepare the required documentation well in advance and inform your local Singapore Airlines office at least 48 hours before your flight departs.
Flying with an assistance or emotional support dog
Required documentation
Restricted breeds
Specific destination restrictions
Assistance dogs are accepted for travel on board Singapore Airlines flights. With effect from 1 April 2023 (0000hrs SGT), Singapore Airlines will no longer allow customers to travel with their emotional support dogs on board flights.
Flying with an assistance or emotional support dog
Assistance dogs are trained to perform certain tasks to assist persons with disabilities , while emotional support dogs are companion dogs that alleviate psychological disabilities. To fly with an assistance or emotional support dog, the dog must be at least 4 months old, be trained to obey commands, behave appropriately, and must not pose a direct threat to the health and safety of other customers.
During the flight
Smaller dogs (no larger than the size of a 2-year old child) may sit on your lap while larger dogs must sit on the cabin floor in front of the passenger seat. A moisture absorbent material must also be placed on the cabin floor underneath the dog at all times.
Additionally, all dogs:
- must not occupy a seat
- must be leashed or kept in a pet carrier at all times
- must not obstruct the legroom of other customers
- must not block the aisle or emergency exit
Unless your assistance or emotional support dog is of a restricted breed, a muzzle is not necessary. However, you are encouraged to have a muzzle with you.
Arrival in Singapore
Emotional support dogs are not recognised as assistance dogs in Singapore. If you are bringing an emotional support dog into Singapore, you will have to comply with the Singapore Animal & Veterinary Service (AVS) procedures and requirements for importing dogs. This includes checking in an empty pet transport container that conform to IATA standards. Your dog container will count towards your check-in baggage allowance. If you exceed the allowance, the usual additional baggage charges will apply.
On arrival in Singapore, your emotional support dog will undergo an inspection at the AVS Changi Animal & Plant Quarantine (CAPQ) Station. You will need to transfer your dog to the transport container, and hand it to the Lost and Found Counter staff at Changi Airport. Our ground services partner will transport your dog from the Changi Airport passenger terminal to the CAPQ station.
You do not need to check in a pet transport container if you are travelling with your assistance dog that is recognised by AVS. On arrival in Singapore, your assistance dog will undergo a veterinary inspection. If all the veterinary conditions for import are met, and your dog is clinically healthy on arrival, it will be allowed to enter Singapore. You may find the import procedures and requirements for assistance dogs here.
Required documentation
To comply with animal import regulations and protect the health and safety of all our customers, we require documentation if you are travelling with assistance or emotional support dogs. You are also required to present the original documentation when checking in at the airport.
Do note that certain countries, including Singapore, do not recognise emotional support dogs. In such cases, the import regulations for emotional support dogs will differ from assistance dogs and may follow those for pet dogs.
Required documentation Assistance dogTrained to assist those with disabilities, such as guide dogs, hearing dogs and mobility assistance dogs.❏ Import and/or export permits (subject to country-specific regulations)
❏ Transshipment licence, if your dog is transiting through Singapore
❏ Veterinary health certificate
❏ Rabies vaccination letterEmotional support dog
Companion dog that alleviates psychological disabilities❏ Import and/or export permits (subject to country-specific regulations)
❏ Transshipment licence, if your dog is transiting through Singapore
❏ Veterinary health certificate
❏ Rabies vaccination letter
❏ Signed statement from a licensed mental health professional no older than one year prior to your flight date stating:
- you have a mental or emotional disability recognised in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), and is under his or her professional care
- you need the emotional support dog for air travel and/or for activities at your destination
- licence information of the mental health professional (issue date, licence type, and jurisdiction and state where it was issued)
If your flight duration is more than 8 hours, you will have to provide additional documents to certify that your assistance or emotional support dog will not need to relieve itself on the flight, or that it can do so in a way that does not create a health or sanitation issue on the flight.
If your assistance or emotional support dog is of a restricted breed, you must provide additional documents regarding your dog's behaviour.
Restricted breeds
If your assistance or emotional support dog is of a restricted breed (including crosses) listed below, we will require additional documents regarding its behavior before we can accept your dog in the cabin. You must have a suitable muzzle available and your dog must also be harnessed and leashed throughout the flight.
The restricted breeds are as follows:- Akita
- Boerboel
- Bull Terrier
- Doberman Pinscher
- Dogo Argentino
- Fila Brasileiro
- German Shepherd Dog, Belgian Shepherd Dog, East European Shepherd Dog
- Mastiffs, including Bull Mastiff, Neapolitan Mastiff, Cane Corso and Dogue De Bordeaux
- Perro De Presa Canario
- Pit Bull, including American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Bulldog
- Rottweiler
- Tosa
For more information, get in touch with your local Singapore Airlines office.
Specific destination restrictions
Due to specific destination import and export regulations, we are unable to accept emotional support dogs to travel in the cabin into or out of the destinations below.- Into all destinations in Australia
- Into all destinations in New Zealand
- Into all destinations in the United Kingdom
- Into/Out of Bali (DPS)
- Into/Out of Brunei (BWN)
- Into Dubai (DXB)
- Into Ho Chi Minh City (SGN)
- Into of Hong Kong SAR (HKG).
- Into/Out of Houston (IAH), if the itinerary involves a transit in Manchester, United Kingdom (i.e. SQ51/SQ52).
- Into/Out of Maldives (MLE)
- Into/Out of San Francisco (SFO), if the itinerary involves a transit in Hong Kong SAR (i.e. SQ7/SQ8).
- Into Shenzhen (SZX)
- Into Sri Lanka (CMB)
If your destination is not listed above, please check your destination’s import regulations and ensure that you hold the necessary documents, required for travel.
The import and export requirements may differ if you are travelling with an assistance dog (task-trained service dog). Travelling with your dog in the cabin may be permitted. Please check your destination’s import regulations.
For destination-specific regulations and documents required for travelling with animals, refer to IATA Travel Centre or your destination’s embassy/consulate.