We wanted to fly straight into Bodrum so that Henry would only have one flight but in April there was no chance we would have had to go to Istanbul then Bodrum and as we didn't want him to have 2 flights we decided to fly direct into Dalaman.
I started off trying to use one of these companies in the UK who transport your pets over and take all of the hassle away from you but I hit problems because we were flying in April before the season started so with the help of people off here and a fantastic guy named Peter who works for GB Airways I went ahead and organised the move myself.
First of all I got in touch with DEFRA who advised me that I needed:
Export Health Certificate
Rabies jab and up to date with all inoculations.
Declaration document which must be signed by a vet within 96 hours of travel date stating the dog is fit to travel.
NO pet passport is needed.
I then phoned BA who advised me I would need to fly with GB airways this is when I got in touch with Peter. His number is 01293 814343. Peter told me what was required by the airline and gave me the number for Airpets, these were the people who made the crate for us. Airpets number 01753 685571, I didn't find this lot as professional as Peter as I was told conflicting advice by them. I told Peter and he got on to them and got the name of someone to talk to there who knew exactly what he was talking about. We eventually got Henry's crate made, it cost £140 and we went and picked it up 2 weeks before we flew as I wanted Henry to get kind of used to it before the actual flight. We kept throwing in bite sized pieces of cheese (to encourage him into the crate) and that did the trick, he would swap me for a piece of cheese!
Peter told us to book our flight then get back to him with our flight number and confirmation, he then booked Henry on the flight and told us that when we get to Gatwick Henry would be booked in as excess baggage and we would have to pay £7.23 per kilo for him and his crate, his crate alone weighed 23 kilos!
When we got to Gatwick airport we looked like (and this is the truth) the Clampits, loads of cases and a crate which was massive, a dog and 2 very harassed people. I ran into the airport to ask BA staff how to get the dog, the crate and all the luggage to check and in and 2 staff came out with me and helped us in. One led in Henry by the lead, one took a trolley full of luggage, Gary took the crate and I took a trolley full of luggage ( I told you, The Clampits!) it was so embarasssing.
Check in went without a hitch and I can't praise BA staff enough. We stayed with Henry right up until our flight was being called and then I threw a little piece of cheese into his crate and in he walked and we locked the door behind him. I have to admit I was choked up by this time but the staff wheeled him off and assured us he would be ok so Gary and I then rushed up to departures and ran all the way down to the gate where we could see them loading Henry into the hold.
We were dreading the flight as my daughter had told us that sometimes you can hear dogs barking in the air and Gary and I thought he might of started howling like a banchee but he was all quiet. I reminded the cabin crew that he was down there and to make sure the Captain had the heating on, they laughed and said "It's Henry isn't it, don't worry, have a couple of glasses of wine and we'll be there before you know it".
When we arrived at Dalaman, all the luggage came off and then about 10 minutes later, Henry was wheeled out to "lost and found" where we were reunited again. He seemed just fine, I was so so chuffed to see him again and asked one of the airport staff if I could take him out of the crate, he said I could as long as my dog was not "vicious" lol. I got him out the crate and we then headed out of the airport where we had arranged for a vet and a big van to meet us and take us home (400 ytl). Gary travelled in the back of the transit with Henry
when we arrived home he was covered in slobber and stank like a dog but he didn't give s**te we had our big un-vicious dog with us!
I could have also flown with Turkish Airlines (but again 2 flights) but Turkish Airlines wouldn't guarantee the dogs ticket we would have been told on the day if he COULD fly that day so that was no good as our tickets would have been booked. I don't know if policy has changed now (April 08) but I just can't imagine anyone taking the risk of their animals not getting on the flight.