Air Travel with Certified Service Dogs: What Travelers Should Know
from Georg Loderbauer
For people with disabilities or limited mobility, a certified service dog is much more than just a well-trained pet—it provides mobility, safety, and independence. Nevertheless, air travelers with certified service dogs are repeatedly faced with bureaucratic hurdles.
What rights apply in the EU?
Article 7(2) and Annex II of Regulation (EC) No. 1107/2006 generally require airports and airlines to transport certified service dogs in the aircraft cabin, provided that
- the person notifies the airline, its agents, or the travel agency in a timely manner that they are traveling with a certified service dog, and
- the transport of the dog complies with applicable national regulations.
The regulation deliberately uses the term “certified service dog.” This is intended to ensure that only those dogs that have been specifically selected and trained to meet the individual needs of a person with a disability or limited mobility are granted special transportation privileges. In addition to providing the necessary assistance to their owners, these dogs must also be trained to move safely in public areas, obey commands reliably, and pose no threat to flight safety.
Airlines may therefore require proof that a dog has successfully completed the necessary training.
Not all assistance dogs are guide dogs
Recognized service dogs include more than just guide dogs for the blind. They also include, for example, • alert dogs for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, or for people with chronic conditions such as diabetes,
- Service dogs for people with physical disabilities, as well as
- Other specially trained assistance dogs that help people with various disabilities or limited mobility in their daily lives.
The lack of international standards makes implementation difficult
To this day, there are no uniform global or EU-wide regulations governing the training or certification of service dogs. This often means that airlines must determine whether a dog is in fact a recognized service dog.
While some countries have legally regulated recognition procedures, others rely on private certification organizations. This repeatedly leads to uncertainty, particularly in cross-border air travel.
Austria has a statutory recognition system
In Austria, Section 39a of the Federal Disability Act specifies the conditions under which a dog is considered a certified service dog.
Upon successful completion of training and examination, a corresponding certificate is issued. Since January 1, 2015, the Ministry of Social Affairs has entrusted the Messerli Research Institute at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna with conducting the assistance dog examination. For this purpose, a dedicated testing center for assistance dogs was established there.
The legal situation in Austria is therefore clear in principle: On flights to and from Austria, airlines are required to allow assistance dogs that have been certified according to Austrian standards and possess the appropriate documentation to travel in the cabin.
Nevertheless, particularly on international flights, airlines may refuse to allow an assistance dog on board or require additional documentation, for example, if different certification systems apply in the destination country.
ECAC Guidance
The European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) has also addressed this issue in depth. The result is a new guidance document, which has been published since January 2026 as Annex 5-M to ECAC Doc 30 (Part I).
According to this document, certified service dogs can generally be divided into two categories:
1. Dogs that have been certified in accordance with applicable national regulations and are trained to meet the individual needs of a person with a disability.
2. Dogs that have been certified according to recognized quality and training standards to meet the individual needs of people with disabilities. Compliance with these standards is regularly reviewed.
For the second category, airlines must generally make a decision on a case-by-case basis. To ensure a fair and as consistent as possible decision-making process, they should base their decisions on recognized international standards.
Certificates of training issued by internationally recognized organizations such as Assistance Dogs International (ADI) or the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF) can serve as a basis. This allows for more consistent evaluation of training certificates and further standardization of the procedure for approving the transport of assistance dogs in the aircraft cabin.
The non-binding guideline explains the rights and obligations of air travelers with recognized assistance dogs, as well as the responsibilities of airports and airlines. In addition, it contains numerous best-practice recommendations for all phases of air travel—from booking and flight preparation to the time spent at the airport, the flight itself, and arrival at the destination.
The document can be downloaded directly from the ECAC website:
Recommendation from the apf
The apf recommends that travelers with service dogs check with the operating airline about the applicable transportation regulations before booking, immediately notify the airline of their intention to travel with a service dog at the time of booking, and, if possible, obtain written confirmation that the service dog may be brought on board. This often helps prevent misunderstandings and problems at the airport.
Do you have questions about air travel with assistance dogs?
The experts at apf are happy to assist you by phone Monday through Friday (excluding holidays) between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. at +43 1 5050 707 740.