From First Call to Touchdown: How Pet Relocation Actually Works

Shipping a pet abroad sounds complicated because most people have never seen the steps. It isn't actually hard to understand — it's just a chain of checks, one leading into the next. Here's the whole thing broken down plainly, the way you'd explain it to a friend who's never done this before.

Step 1: You Contact Us

This part's simple — a form, a call, a WhatsApp message. We just need the basics: what pet, what breed, where it's coming from, where it's going, and roughly when.

Step 2: We Survey the Pet and the Crate

Think of this step like a pre-flight safety check, except it's for your pet instead of the plane. There's a global rulebook every airline follows — the IATA Live Animals Regulations (iata.org) — and we check your setup against it line by line, using our own in-house checklist so nothing slips through.

The main thing we're checking is the crate. Picture the crate as your pet's seat for the next 24+ hours — it has to be the right size (big enough to stand, turn around, and lie down), made of the right material, built the right way. If it isn't, we'll tell you it needs fixing, even if that's an annoying thing to hear two weeks before a flight. Airlines don't make exceptions here, so we can't either — a rejected crate at the airport is a far worse day than a hard conversation now.

Step 3: We Check the Pet's Passport

A pet passport is just a record book — vaccines, microchip, dates, all in one place. We check it's filled out in the right order.

Here's the part people don't expect: the microchip has to go in before the vaccinations, not after. Think of the microchip like an ID card — the vaccine record only counts if it's linked to an ID that already exists. If it was done backwards, the vaccinations technically don't count yet, and the whole thing has to be repeated. Catching this early saves weeks later.

Step 4: We Get You a Price

Once the survey's done, we ask the airline what it'll cost to fly your pet as cargo — this takes about 1-2 business days because we're waiting on their number, not making one up ourselves. Airfreight pricing isn't fixed months ahead the way a plane ticket is — think of it more like a hotel room rate that can shift closer to the date. If your pet flies within two weeks, the price we quote is locked. If it's further out, expect a possible updated price around 14 days before departure.

Step 5: We Book It and Get the AWB

Once you confirm the date, we lock in the booking with the airline and get something called an AWB — Air Waybill.

Here's the simplest way to think about it: if your pet were a piece of luggage, the AWB is the tag and the ticket combined into one document. It says who the pet belongs to, where it's flying from, where it's flying to, and under what terms the airline agrees to carry it. Nothing moves — not through customs, not onto the plane — without this document existing first.

One detail matters more than people expect: if you're clearing the pet yourself at the destination, the phone number and email listed on the AWB have to be ones you'll actually answer, any time, day or night. Live cargo doesn't wait for office hours — if the airline can't reach you the moment your pet lands, that delay is on the pet, not on paperwork. A number that goes to voicemail at 2 AM defeats the purpose of putting it on the AWB at all.

Step 6: We Get the OK2Forward

Before the pet can actually leave, someone at the destination has to confirm they're ready to receive it. That confirmation is called OK2Forward.

Think of it like this: the airline at your pet's departure city won't push a pet onto a plane if there's nobody confirmed to catch it on the other end. OK2Forward is that catch, confirmed in writing. If you plan to handle pickup and customs yourself at the destination, you'll need to arrange this OK2Forward directly with the airline there before the flight — otherwise the flight simply won't release the pet.

Step 7: You Pay

Once everything's locked — survey passed, AWB issued, OK2Forward confirmed — we send the invoice and ask for full payment upfront. The reason is simple: once your pet has been delivered, there's no way to force payment after the fact. So payment happens before, not after.

Step 8: Departure Day

We show up 3-4 hours before the flight — same idea as arriving early for a human flight, except this time we're checking on the pet, not the passenger. First question we ask: when was the pet last fed? That tells us if any last adjustments are needed based on IATA rules and whatever the original survey flagged. The pet then travels to the airport by car or truck, depending on the crate's size.

At the airport, the airline sends its own pet-handling experts to inspect the crate one more time — think of it as a final gate check. Because we've worked with these airlines for years, we already know what they're going to look for, so the crate and paperwork are built to pass on the first try, not the second.

Step 9: Handover

Once the airline's experts approve everything, the pet is officially handed over to the airline. From here, we send you updates — email or WhatsApp, your choice — at each stage, so you're not left wondering where things stand.

Step 10: We Stay Until Departure

We don't leave once the pet is checked in. We stay at the airport until we get confirmation the pet has safely departed from TIA Airport. If anything comes up mid-transit — a delay, a missing document, a health concern — we're the ones coordinating between the airline, the vet, and you until it's sorted.

Why This Matters

We're Nepal's only IPATA LAR-certified pet relocation handler — a credential that exists specifically for people who move live animals internationally. In plain terms: it means someone has independently checked that we actually know these rules, not just that we claim to.

If you're relocating with a pet, Orient International Relocations (orientrelo.com) handles every step above for you — so you don't have to become an expert in airline cargo rules just to get your pet home safely.