Mumbai airport recently witnessed a quiet milestone when Topshe, a cat, became Akasa Air’s 10,000th pet traveller. The moment captured the growing ease of pet travel in India, a sector still not without logistical challenges.
Akasa Air, launched in August 2022, may be new to the aviation space, but the numbers do give a snapshot of how pet-parents fly in the country. Dogs comprised 60 per cent of these passengers, with cats making up the rest.
Nearly 35 per cent of the annual pet journeys occurred during the October-December festive quarter, with monthly volumes rising almost 63 per cent above the annual average. This suggests holidays are no longer a barrier to pet travel. The Bengaluru-Delhi route emerged as the most popular, accounting for 13.66 per cent of pet journeys.
While not all airlines are warm to the idea of allowing pets in the cabin, 93 per cent of Akasa’s pets were in-cabin passengers—clearly owners prefer this. Akasa allows up to three pets per flight and has increased the in-cabin weight limit to 10 kg. It makes business sense too, for 26 per cent of pet owners have made repeat journeys on the airline. One customer travelled 26 times on the Mumbai-Goa route with his miniature poodle.
The post-pandemic boom in adoption of pets seems to have turned this hitherto overlooked travel category into a serious business. Air India transported over 5,000 pets on its domestic flights last fiscal.
Indian Railways continues to be the most well-known, and often the only, option to travel with pets in India—in its First AC coupes. The railways is also trying to make the experience hassle-free. No more does one need to visit the parcel office at the source station with the pet to get a pet’s challan. The booking has gone online. But this change has come gradually with rising demand from pet parents. Earlier, the railways did not allow cats to travel with their owners in the train—a policy abolished only a few years ago.
According to Grand View Research, a California-based market intelligence firm, India’s “pet travel services” market could be valued at $154 million (Rs 1,400 crore) by 2030, up from around $82 million in 2024. A steady spike of an annual 11.2 per cent growth from 2025, it says.
In India, the business of players who specialise in arranging pet travel has also started marking its presence. “The rise of pet travel apps has simplified the booking process for pet owners in India, making it easier to find and book pet-friendly accommodations, flights and transportation services,” Grand View Research says, adding that worldwide, it is an estimated $2 billion market and poised to cross $3 billion by 2030.
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