Pet relocation from Hyderabad

Moving a pet from Hyderabad

If you've come to Hyderabad on an assignment with one of the city's technology companies, the move home usually has a date set by someone else, and the dog or cat has to fit into it. That's the first conversation we have: the date you need, the country you're going to, and whether the two fit together. For the UK or Europe, a titre and a wait can push the pet's timeline past yours, and it's better to know that in the first week.

Hyderabad makes one part easier. AQCS Hyderabad, the government quarantine office that signs the export certificate, sits in the Cargo Satellite Building at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Shamshabad. In Bengaluru it's a separate trip out to Hessarghatta. Here it's at the airport. The rule is the same everywhere, by appointment about a week before the flight, and the certificate is valid for 10 days.

The airport's cargo complex is run by GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo, which puts its domestic and international terminals under one roof, with plant and animal quarantine facilities on site. A pet flying as cargo is handed over on the cargo side, and our people stay with him up to that point.

Heat is the thing to plan around. IMD's figures for Hyderabad, 1991 to 2020, put the mean daily high at 38.2°C in April and 39.7°C in May. Airlines set heat limits by aircraft, airport and route, snub-nosed breeds get the tightest, and Emirates carries them only under set conditions from November to April. So for a Shih Tzu or a Persian, the month can matter more than the fare.

Families moving back to Hyderabad register on ATITHI 2.0 themselves, because the SOP says the login is the passenger's own and mustn't be shared. Our part is checking the health certificate, the vaccine dates and your name on the ticket before you submit, so the airline lifts him on the day. If he flies as cargo on a different day from you, he has to land within a month of you, or customs needs to agree in advance.

Hyderabad clears pets coming in, as one of India's six AQCS stations, with the Advance NOC on ATITHI 2.0 at least seven days before boarding. It isn't one of the four ports for other live animals, though, so a horse or a pet bird coming to Hyderabad lands in Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi or Kolkata, goes through quarantine there, and travels on afterwards.

Inside India, Hyderabad to Bengaluru, Delhi or Mumbai is a domestic flight. Air India and Akasa carry dogs and cats, IndiGo doesn't, and a vet's fitness certificate travels with every pet.