Pet Air Cargo · Dubai, UAE
Pet Shipping at Dubai Airport: What Actually Happens at DXB and DWC
Two kinds of people search for this. One has just landed at Terminal 3, has no dog, and wants to know where it is. The other has been told to "drop off at the cargo terminal" and has discovered that Dubai's cargo complex is a kilometre of numbered buildings with no sign that says pets.
This guide is for both. It covers which building your animal passes through, what happens to it in each hour between landing and release, what to carry to the counter, and what the airport does differently in summer. By the end you should be able to describe the process to a friend without the word "paperwork".
In this guide
The rule that shapes everything else: a cat or dog enters the UAE only as manifested cargo. Not in the cabin, not as checked baggage, whatever the airline allows on other routes. The animal travels on its own air waybill, lands in the cargo complex rather than at the passenger terminal, and is released after a Ministry veterinarian has inspected it. Why cargo is the standard, and what it costs, is covered in pet shipping Dubai. This page is about the airport.
Where you are actually going
Two airports, two cargo operations
"Dubai airport" is two airports, and the main one has two separate cargo operations run by two companies. Your airline decides which gate you drive to, so find that out before you find out the address.
DXB · Dubai International
Emirates SkyCargo terminals
- Who: pets flying Emirates, in or out.
- What: Emirates' own cargo terminals inside the Cargo Village complex, now branded FreightGate, with a dedicated pet facility and a 24/7 team that reviews every booking's documents and crate photographs before the animal is accepted.
- Volume: over 14,600 cats, dogs and other pets in 2025, roughly 40 a day, which is why the process is standardised and why it does not bend for you.
- Ground handling: animals move between aircraft and the facility in climate-controlled vehicles, loaded last and unloaded first.
DXB · Dubai International
dnata FreightGate terminals
- Who: pets flying almost any other airline: Qatar Airways, British Airways via IAG Cargo, Lufthansa, KLM, Air France, Singapore Airlines, Turkish and the rest.
- What: dnata handles cargo for around 120 carriers from its own numbered terminals in the same complex. Live animals are received at its animal facility, not at the airline's counter.
- Same vet, same rules: the Ministry's veterinary quarantine centre serves the whole complex, 24 hours a day, every day. Who handles the crate changes. Who inspects the animal does not.
DWC · Al Maktoum International
Dubai World Central
- Who, today: flydubai and Wizz Air passengers, Emirates SkyCargo freighters, and a share of transit animals. Few pet owners use it yet.
- Who, soon: Emirates and flydubai announced in September 2026 a phased move to DWC starting next year, flydubai first. Expect the answer to "which airport" to change during 2027. We will update this page when the dates firm up.
- Distance: Jebel Ali, about 37 km south-west of the centre. Budget 45 to 60 minutes from Downtown or the Marina, more at rush hour.
- Same handler: the animal-care contractor that runs the live-animal facility at DXB runs the one at DWC too, so the process is the same even if the building is newer.
The practical consequence: when you book, ask the airline or your agent two questions. Which airport? and Emirates or dnata? With those two answers you know the building. Without them you will be driving between gates with a dog in the back in July, and we have watched people do it.
The part nobody publishes
Arriving into Dubai: the clock from doors-open to release
Most guides say clearance "takes a few hours". Here is where those hours go, so that you know whether to wait at the cargo gate or go home and sleep.
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Aircraft doors open
Your pet is in the temperature-controlled hold, loaded last so that it comes off first. The clock you care about starts here, not at the scheduled arrival time. A 40-minute hold on the taxiway counts.
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Off the aircraft, into a climate-controlled vehicle
The container is driven to the live-animal facility on the cargo side, not to the baggage hall. In summer this leg is the reason animals fly overnight. More on that below.
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Documents processed before clearance can begin
This is the stretch that surprises people. The air waybill and the papers that travelled with the animal have to be processed by airport officials before the customs and veterinary steps can even start. Ninety minutes to two hours is normal, and it can run longer when several freighters land together. Nothing is wrong. Nobody has forgotten your dog.
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Ministry veterinary inspection
A MOCCAE veterinarian checks the microchip against the import permit, the health certificate and the vaccination record, and looks at the animal and the crate. What those documents have to show is set out in the UAE pet import requirements guide. If everything matches, a release permit is applied for. It cannot be applied for before landing, and the fee is paid at this point: AED 500 for a dog, AED 250 for a cat.
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Customs declaration
A non-commercial import declaration is filed through Dubai Customs' electronic system by a registered user or a licensed broker. This is the step an Essentials-tier owner collecting alone most often cannot do themselves at the counter, which is why a handler is usually involved even on a do-it-yourself move.
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Release to the consignee
The person named on the air waybill, or their nominated agent, collects the animal at the live-animal facility. Three to six hours from doors-open is typical. Under three happens on a quiet night with perfect papers. Over six usually means a document problem, which is the next section but one.
What this means for you on landing day
If you are on the same flight, you will clear immigration, collect your bags and reach the kerb long before your pet is ready. Do not go to the cargo complex straight away. Go home, or to the hotel, and come back when the handler calls, or let the handler deliver. For Managed and White Glove clients our Dubai team is at the facility from doors-open and sends WhatsApp updates at each step, so the only time you spend at the airport is your own. Essentials clients get the same timeline and a written collection brief, and do the drive themselves.
Collecting your pet: what to bring
The cargo complex is not walkable from the passenger terminals. Take a taxi and give the driver the airline's cargo terminal and the words "live animal collection".
At the counter
- The air waybill number. Eleven digits, on your booking confirmation. It is the only reference the system knows your animal by.
- Photo ID matching the consignee. The name on your passport or Emirates ID must match the consignee on the air waybill. "Mohammed" on one and "Mohamed" on the other is a conversation you do not want at 2 am.
- Original documents, if they did not travel with the animal. Normally the health certificate, vaccination record and import permit are in the document pouch on the crate. Carry copies regardless.
- A written release note if someone else is collecting. Signed by the consignee, with their ID copy and the collector's ID.
- Water, a lead and the car. The animal has been in its crate for hours. The first thing it needs is a drink and a walk on the lead, not the crate again for the drive home. The container itself travels home with you.
Fees are paid before release, so bring a card. If the shipment was consigned to a handler rather than to you, the handler clears and delivers, and you need none of the above. Which option is right depends on the tier you chose, and on whether you want to be at a cargo gate at the end of a long-haul flight. If you are unsure which you booked, or whether a handler is named on your waybill, ask us before you land. The full comparison is on our pet shipping page, and the document list on the documents checklist.
Leaving Dubai
Departing from Dubai: the countdown
Departure is a different shape from arrival. The airport work is mostly done before the day, and the day itself is short. Counting down to the flight, here is where the fixed points fall.
| When | What happens | Where |
|---|---|---|
| T − 10 days | The window opens for the destination health certificate. For the UK and the EU, the Annex IV or GB certificate is attested within ten days of travel; for most other destinations the private-vet certificate is dated inside a similar window. Earlier than this and it expires before you land. | Your vet, then MOCCAE |
| T − 5 days to T − 24 h | Dogs bound for the UK, Ireland, Finland, Malta or Norway are treated for tapeworm between 24 and 120 hours before scheduled arrival, by the vet who signs the certificate. Miss the window and the certificate is void. | Your vet |
| T − 3 to 7 days | The airline's live-animal team vets the booking: the pet's details, photographs of the animal in the crate, the veterinary and vaccination documents, and the destination airport's confirmation that it is ready to receive. Emirates asks for a signed Customer Acknowledgement Form with every shipment. Submit everything well before the flight; a rejected crate photograph the night before cannot be fixed by morning. | Airline live-animal desk |
| T − 1 to 3 days | The UAE export health certificate. Applied for through the Ministry portal with your UAE Pass, then the animal is presented at the MOCCAE office in the cargo area, where an official scans the microchip, checks it against the application and the payment, and issues the certificate. Valid for 30 days, so it is done close to departure rather than early. | MOCCAE, cargo area |
| T − 4 to 6 h | Drop-off at the cargo terminal, never the passenger terminal. Acceptance staff check the crate against the IATA container requirements, confirm the 24-hour emergency contact is on the container, check the document pouch, and weigh and measure for the chargeable weight. A light meal at least two hours before this, not after. | Emirates SkyCargo or dnata terminal |
| T − 0 | The container is driven to the aircraft in a climate-controlled vehicle and loaded last, into the pressurised, temperature-controlled hold. You are already through security. You will next see your pet at the other end's cargo facility. | Apron |
The export side in full, including which destinations need a rabies titre and which do not, is in exporting your pet from Dubai. For the destination end, the route guides cover what happens on landing in the UK and the United States. If the departure is sudden, a visa cancellation or a posting with three weeks' notice, the countdown compresses and some windows cannot be compressed with it. That is the situation emergency pet relocation Dubai exists for.
Transit through Dubai
Dubai is one of the world's busiest animal transit points, and transit is where the two published minimum connection times disagree. Both are right.
If your pet is flying Emirates end to end, say Manchester to Dubai to Sydney, Emirates requires a minimum of six hours between flights. The animal comes off the first aircraft, goes to the live-animal facility, is taken out of the container, fed, watered and walked, has the container cleaned, and goes back on. The whole transit is documented.
If your pet is changing airlines in Dubai, two things change. First, it needs an OK-to-Transit from MOCCAE, issued before it arrives, which normally takes one to two working days and should be applied for at least a week ahead. Second, the ground handler asks for an absolute minimum of eight hours between arrival and the onward departure, because the inbound documents have to be processed and the animal re-accepted by a different carrier with its own checks. Book a five-hour connection across two airlines and the animal will miss the second flight, and you will pay for a night in the facility and a rebooking.
Transits of six to twelve hours are normal and the animal stays inside the airport facility throughout, in its own enclosure rather than its container for most of that time. A much longer stop, a day or more, means choosing between the facility and a full import and re-export so the animal can go to a boarding kennel, which is a different and more expensive process. We advise against routing a brachycephalic breed through Dubai between May and October at all, for the reason in the next section.
May to October
Summer at the airport
The hold is temperature-controlled. The facility is temperature-controlled. The vehicle between them is temperature-controlled. The apron, in July, is not, and it can be above 45°C at four in the afternoon.
That is why the sequence matters. "Last on, first off" exists so that the container spends the shortest possible time anywhere that is not cooled. It is also why we book overnight departures out of Dubai between May and October wherever the schedule allows, and why most long-haul Emirates services to the UK, Europe, North America and Australia conveniently leave in the small hours. A 02:40 departure has the container crossing the apron at perhaps 30°C. A 14:30 departure has it crossing at 44°C.
For snub-nosed breeds the airline does not leave this to judgement. Emirates SkyCargo does not carry the listed brachycephalic dog and cat breeds, or their crosses, except under specific conditions in the winter season, November to April. The list runs from the obvious (Bulldogs, Pugs, Pekingese, Shih Tzus, Persians, Exotic Shorthairs) to the less obvious (Boxers, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, apple-headed Chihuahuas, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, British Shorthairs, Scottish Folds). If you own one of these and have to move in summer, the route goes through a different carrier and a different hub, and that is a planning conversation, not a booking. Which carriers take what, and when, is in which airlines fly pets to Dubai and the Emirates pet policy guide.
What we will not tell you
That summer is "fine because everything is air-conditioned". The controlled parts are controlled, and the airport runs animals through them well. The uncontrolled part is minutes long, and we manage it by choosing flight times and refusing certain breeds in certain months. How any individual animal, particularly an older or overweight one, handles a long journey in any season is a question for your vet, and we would rather you asked it than that we answered it for them.
From the acceptance counter
What goes wrong at the terminal
Five things account for most of the delays and refusals we see at both ends. None of them is exotic. All of them are preventable the week before.
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The consignee name does not match the ID
Transliterated names, a middle name on the passport but not on the waybill, a maiden name on the Emirates ID. The system releases to the consignee as written. Fix: have whoever books the waybill copy the name from the passport, character for character.
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The crate fails at acceptance
Wheels still attached, a door that can be nosed open, ventilation on fewer than three sides, no water container fillable from outside, or an animal that cannot stand without its ears touching the roof. Acceptance staff measure, and a failed crate at T−5 hours means a missed flight or a hastily bought replacement at a higher freight charge. Fix: specify the crate properly a month out, and send the airline its photographs early.
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A date is outside its window
Health certificate signed eleven days before travel. Tapeworm given six days before arrival. Import permit expired because the flight moved. Each is a hard stop at the Ministry desk. Fix: build the countdown backwards from the arrival time and re-check it the moment any flight changes. The health certificate guide lists every window.
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Microchip will not read, or reads a different number
Non-ISO chips that the Ministry's scanner cannot read, chips that have migrated, and the occasional animal whose chip number was typed wrongly into the permit. The vet checks the chip first and everything else is matched to it. Fix: have your vet scan and record the number on the day the certificate is signed, and compare it to the permit yourself.
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Someone turns up at the passenger terminal
With the dog, at departures, four hours early. Or at arrivals, waiting at the belt for a crate that is already across the airfield. Fix: the two questions from the first section, asked at booking, and a taxi driver who has heard the words "cargo terminal".
A recent one. A couple relocating from Singapore with a four-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel booked their own move for late October, on a carrier whose cargo arm handles through dnata at DXB. Three things were in play at once: the breed is on the brachycephalic list, so the carrier choice mattered; the flight landed at 17:40, so the apron leg was in the heat; and the waybill had been consigned to the husband under a name that differed from his passport by one letter. We re-timed the booking to a flight landing at 05:10, had the waybill reissued before departure, and had our team at the facility from doors-open. Release was at 09:25, four hours fifteen. The couple were asleep in Jumeirah by then, which is how it should be. The Singapore side of that route is covered in pet relocation Singapore to Dubai; the equivalents for India and South Korea cover the same arrival sequence from those origins.
For the animal's side of the same day, rather than the airport's, read dog shipping Dubai for the hour-by-hour journey and cat shipping Dubai for the preparation that decides how the day goes. Our own end-to-end sequence, from first call to delivery, is on the process page.
FAQ
Dubai airport pet cargo — frequently asked questions
Where do I collect my pet at Dubai airport?
At the live-animal facility in the cargo complex on the far side of the airfield from the passenger terminals, not at the baggage hall. Which building depends on the airline: Emirates shipments are handled at Emirates SkyCargo's own terminals, and most other airlines are handled by dnata at its FreightGate terminals. Take a taxi from arrivals and ask for the airline's cargo terminal and live animal collection. Bring the air waybill number and photo ID in the consignee's name.
How long does it take to clear a pet at Dubai airport?
Typically three to six hours from the aircraft doors opening. The animal is off the aircraft within 30 to 60 minutes, the air waybill and travel documents then take about 90 to 120 minutes to process before clearance can begin, and the Ministry veterinary inspection, release permit and customs declaration follow. A quiet night with perfect documents can be under three hours. Over six almost always means a document mismatch.
Can my pet arrive in Dubai as checked baggage or in the cabin?
No. Cats and dogs enter the UAE as manifested cargo on their own air waybill, whatever the airline permits on other routes. They land in the cargo complex and are inspected by a MOCCAE veterinarian before release. The one UAE cabin exception is Etihad into Abu Dhabi for small pets on certain routes, and that is a different airport with its own process.
What are the fees at the airport when my pet arrives?
The release permit is applied for after landing and cannot be prepaid: AED 500 for a dog and AED 250 for a cat. The import permit itself, AED 200 and valid for 30 days, is obtained before travel. Airline terminal and handling charges are billed separately by the carrier or handler, and vary by shipment. Fees are settled before the animal is released, so bring a card.
How long before the flight do I drop my pet at the cargo terminal?
Usually four to six hours before departure, at the airline's cargo terminal rather than the passenger terminal. Acceptance staff check the container against the IATA requirements, confirm the emergency contact is displayed, check the document pouch, and weigh and measure the crate. Feed a light meal at least two hours before drop-off, not after. The exact window is confirmed by the airline when the booking is approved.
Will Emirates pets go through Al Maktoum (DWC) instead of DXB?
Not yet for most owners. Emirates and flydubai announced in September 2026 a phased move to Al Maktoum International, with flydubai going first and Emirates following, so passenger and pet operations will shift during 2027 and beyond. The live-animal facility at DWC is run by the same handler as DXB, so the process will be the same even if the drive is longer. Confirm the airport with the airline at booking, and we will keep this page updated as the dates firm up.
Flying a pet into or out of Dubai?
Tell us the route, the airline if you have one, and the date. We will confirm which terminal, build the countdown backwards from arrival, and tell you whether to be at the cargo gate or asleep when the release comes through.
hello@foufoufly.com · +971 50 451 0918
Subject to eligibility. Terms apply. All prices in AED, inclusive of 5% UAE VAT. Government fees quoted are set by MOCCAE and may change.