Adriana and Bailey’s journey: “I travelled overseas with a seventy-kilogram dog, and it was easy. That speaks for itself”

Bailey is an 8-and-a-half-year-old mastiff who has been with her owner Adriana for four years. Taking in “giant senior dogs”, who might otherwise struggle to find a home, is Adriana’s passion, and it is how the pair found each other. At 165lbs, or a seventy-kilogram dog as Adriana puts it, Bailey is our largest four-legged passenger to date. For all her size, she is what Adriana refers to as a big softy. She is nervous by nature, and we had the honour of flying the pair across the Atlantic for their relocation, as cargo was never an option.

Adriana’s worries were practical. How does a large senior dog manage the air stairs? Would Bailey be nervous?

When asked about her experience flying with Bailey, she says, “everyone was so helpful”. Adriana was particularly concerned about Bailey’s ability to use the air stairs after her knee surgery earlier in the year. She explains she had brought a sling in case Bailey needed help up the steps. On seeing her getting it ready, one of our team stepped in to help the pair. They did not have to manage it alone, which is what we are there for.

The cabin seating plan gave Bailey the front sofa, which she needed – anywhere else and she would have occupied a fair stretch of the aisle. She slept for most of the journey and spent all of it right beside Adriana.

That it turned out to be easy, flying a 165lb mastiff across the Atlantic, Adriana says, speaks for itself.

Anyone who has looked into taking a pet abroad will recognise the problem. There is a lot of information available, but it can be confusing and at times conflicting. This makes it challenging for someone doing this for the first time (which many of our passengers are).

It is also the part where Adriana says our support made a real difference. Every form and every vaccination record is checked as it comes in, and reminders go out with guidelines at each stage, which are “tremendously helpful”, in her words. Those checks really mattered for Bailey. Our team were able to pick up on an issue with Bailey's health certificate, in time to put it right just before they started their journey. “Without that, I don’t think I would have made it,” she recalls.

What reassured her most was simply that we have done this before, and this is what we do. In her words: “Vicuna really saved me”.

Adriana explains that she chose Vicuna for a more “hands on” approach. Given Bailey’s size, age and nervous nature, this particularly mattered. Adriana and Bailey needed people who had done this before and were reachable when something went wrong, and who would still be alongside them on the day.

Her advice to anyone considering flying with their dog: “book with Vicuna because they make it easier than you could ever believe is possible”.

Bailey is settling into her new home and is enjoying more walks and plenty of attention, as there are not many mastiffs about in their new hometown. Adriana has always wanted to live overseas, and it was always going to be the two of them. As she puts it: “I'm fortunate that I can take a dog like Bailey, and I was even more fortunate to find a company like Vicuna that made this all possible for me”.

Bailey has no idea that she has crossed the Atlantic – and that is rather the point. As far as she is concerned, she was where she always is, with Adriana.

We wish Adriana and Bailey all the best for their new chapter.

If this story resonates with you, we would love to hear from you.
Vicuna Air offers private, in-cabin travel for pets and their owners – never in cargo.
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