Can pets fly on Singapore Airlines? (2026)

Short answer: yes, but not beside you. Singapore Airlines carries cats and dogs as checked baggage in a temperature-controlled hold, or as manifest cargo when the crate is large. The only animals the airline describes as travelling in the cabin are assistance dogs.

That distinction matters more than it sounds, because it changes the crate you need, the price, and who is allowed to collect your pet when it lands in Singapore.

Every airline detail below was checked against singaporeair.com on 27 September 2026, including SIA's own checked-baggage checklist for pets dated 18 June 2026. Airline policies change without much notice — confirm before you book.

The three ways a pet travels

In the cabin. Only assistance dogs. SIA is specific that "emotional support dogs, comfort dogs, companionship dogs, and assistance dogs-in-training are not assistance dogs". A recognised assistance dog flies free, must be at least four months old, needs 48 hours' notice, and travels leashed or harnessed at your feet rather than on a seat.

As checked baggage. This is how most pets fly with SIA. Your pet travels on the same flight as you, in the bulk cargo hold, which the airline states is temperature controlled. Cats and dogs only, at least three months old, and no pregnant animals.

As manifest cargo. Once your pet and its crate together exceed 32kg, checked baggage is no longer an option — SIA's wording is that you must "make travel arrangements for your pet(s) via a cargo agent" because of occupational health and safety rules. For most large dogs, this is the route. SIA Cargo carries live animals under the IATA Live Animals Regulations and directs bookings through its local office and appointed partners, which is a large part of why agents exist.

The breed bans are the first thing to check

SIA will not carry brachycephalic — snub-nosed — dogs and cats, including crossbreeds. This is a welfare rule: flat-faced animals are far more vulnerable to breathing difficulties in flight.

Dogs refused: Akita, Boerboel, Boston Terrier, Boxer, Brussels Griffon, Bulldogs (American, French and English), Chow Chow, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, Japanese Chin, Lhasa Apso, Mastiffs (including Neapolitan and Dogue de Bordeaux), Perro de Presa Canario, Pit Bull types, Pugs and Pekingese, Shar-Pei, Shih Tzu, brachycephalic spaniels (including Cavalier King Charles, English Toy and Tibetan Spaniels), and Tosa.

Cats refused: British Shorthair, Burmese, Exotic Shorthair, Himalayan, Persian, Scottish Fold.

A note on scope: the airline's web page frames this ban as applying to checked baggage, while its June 2026 checklist says these breeds are prohibited "both as cargo and as checked baggage". Treat the stricter wording as the working rule and plan another carrier if your pet is on the list. Our notes on snub-nosed breeds cover the routes that remain open.

Routes and aircraft that rule themselves out

Even for an accepted breed, some flights cannot carry pets:

• No Boeing 737 services at all — SIA states there is no temperature control in that aircraft's hold
• Not on SQ21 from Newark or SQ23 from New York; SQ25 from New York does carry pets
• No interline transfers — "we do not accept pets travelling to or from other airlines on any of our flights", so a single-carrier itinerary matters
• As checked baggage, not to or from Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Denpasar, London Gatwick, Manchester, South Africa, nor into London Heathrow, Dubai or Hong Kong

That last list surprises people planning moves to Australia or New Zealand. Those destinations are still reachable, but not with your pet as checked baggage on SIA.

The crate is a technical specification, not a pet carrier

SIA requires IATA-standard containers, and its staff work from a checklist at the airport. The details that catch people out:

• Maximum height depends on the aircraft: 56cm on an A330, 70cm on an A350, 60cm on an A380, 101cm on a B777, 111cm on a B787. The A330 limit appears only in SIA's June 2026 checklist, not on the website — and it is the tightest of the five.
• Ventilation: the website says at least three sides; the checklist says four openings on four sides. Build to the checklist.
• Sizing: length = your pet's nose-to-tail-base length plus half its elbow height; width = twice its shoulder width; height = its full standing height to the top of head or ear tips.
• Construction: fibreglass, rigid plastic, metal, welded mesh, solid wood or plywood, solid leakproof floor, wheels removed or taped, at least six fasteners on the door. All-mesh containers are not accepted.
• Labelled with your name, address and phone number, with absorbent bedding but no straw.
• No leash or muzzle inside the crate, and a flat collar only.
• No sedatives or tranquillisers. This is a firm airline instruction, and most vets experienced in pet travel will say the same.

Two puppies or kittens from the same litter may share a crate if they are three to six months old and each weighs under 14kg. Otherwise, one animal per container.

Booking, paperwork and cost

Contact SIA at least two weeks before departure with your pet's breed, age, weight and the crate dimensions. Check in two hours before the flight, or three hours from the United States.

Pets are not part of your free baggage allowance. They are charged as additional baggage, and — importantly — "pre-paid and discounted rates will not be available for your pet's carriage", so the cheaper online excess-baggage rates do not apply. Outside the USA you pay on total weight; to and from the USA your pet and crate count as two extra pieces.

For a pet flying into Singapore, SIA lists the documents as an import or transhipment licence valid 90 days, an indemnity form signed at check-in, a veterinary health certificate, and vaccination records showing the microchip number.

What happens when the flight lands in Singapore

This is where airline policy meets Singapore's rules, and where owners most often get caught out.

CAPQ inspects every animal entering through Changi, and import clearance must go through an AVS-recognised pet agent. Singapore Airlines states this plainly on its own pet page: engage an AVS-recognised agent before your pet arrives. Since 1 April 2026 owners cannot enter the Changi Airfreight Centre to do it themselves.

Timing matters too. SIA notes that pets arriving outside CAPQ's opening hours are held by its ground handling agent, SATS, in an air-conditioned area with water — but they are not fed or walked, because SATS staff are not trained to do so. The same applies to transits longer than six hours. Pack enough food and water in the crate, and choose a flight that lands inside CAPQ's hours: Monday and Tuesday 9am to 5pm, Wednesday to Friday 9am to 8pm, closed at weekends and on public holidays, with a 1pm to 2pm break.

Our nine-step import process shows how the flight fits the rest of the timeline, and the cost calculator will give you dates and a price for your country.

The practical summary

Singapore Airlines is a reasonable carrier for pets: temperature-controlled holds, clear published rules, and IATA-standard handling. The constraints that decide whether it works for you are the breed list, the 32kg threshold, the aircraft-specific crate heights and the route exclusions. Check those four before you book your own ticket, because rebooking a pet is considerably harder than rebooking yourself.

If you would rather not work through it alone, that is what we do. We are Mainecoon Cattery SG, trading as Pet Agent Singapore, an AVS-recognised pet agent — so we book the cargo space, supply a compliant crate, and clear your pet at CAPQ when it lands. Tell us your route and we will tell you whether SIA will take your pet, or which carrier will.