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Bringing dog through Sofia?

Last activity 09 February 2016 by annanirvanna

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annanirvanna

Hi all you expats.  Any pet owners can assist please.  I am looking to relocate to VT - need to know how others have 'fared' bringing their dogs through Sofia airport.  Is it relatively pain free & not too much red tape etc.?  My dog has his Chip, current up to date rabies cert & all jabs.  Just need to get the Govt vet papers signed my end & worm tablet given within 24-48 hours to conclude all required paperwork (I hope)

Trying to find a flight route hopefully bringing my dog in as excess baggage as opposed to the horrendously extortionate cargo prices.  I am 'stressed to the max' trying to sort this out.  For info we will be departing hopefully from Sharm-el-Sheikh airport to either Brussels, Milan, or Rome  (depending on what limited flight routes we have here).  I will need to then get a connecting flight from one of these EU airports to Sofia.  Another alternative route may be via Istanbul if Turkish Airways have facility for pet excess baggage

thetravelbug.org

There are various transport companies that operate via road. There is one I know that comes from Turkey. Otherwise so long as all paperwork in order it is easy to bring dogs into the country.

annanirvanna

Thank you TheTraveBug.org.  for answering.  I have spent months looking for plans to relocate my dog & it is a huge relief that you state that its easy to bring dog into Bulgaria.  Since Nov 2015 my local airport of Sharm have had almost all airlines flights stopped due to the Russian Airline 'downing' over Sinai.  Now 3 months on & still hardly any airline choices for persons and also pets.  I also have an additional problem.  I cannot get the biggest dog crate here.  So I am worried that if I use the only big one available which is not quite high enough the airlines may refuse taking him

We would be very very interested in any information you could provide me regarding road pet transport operating from Turkey Rome & Milan.  I did Google for road pet transporters from Istanbul but never received a reply back from the agent.  If you know of any firms from Istanbul ,Rome or Milan that would be so kind & helpful to us.  These are the best options I can fly to from my airport of Sharm as opposed to undertaking a 10 hour road journey from where we live to Cairo which is an awful journey with many security & police road checks en-route.

Thx again & hope to get some info from you  :top:

thetravelbug.org

Will try and find the link for you. All the firms I know are based in Bulgaria, but on does do runs to Turkey. We run a dog charity in Bulgaria and have our own licensed transport but only go to Germany and UK.

annanirvanna

That would be great & I eagerly await your further update.  Which cities in Germany do you use?.  I could possibly see if there is any chance of a flight from here to Germany from my local airport.  Could you send me a PM with locations & prices please.  Maybe if you are returning after delivering   animals & have empty vehicle this could work?  JetAirFly is one of the most popular airlines here for expats & their pets & also animal rescuers as they have a flat fee for excess baggage on pets.  They fly direct from Sharm to Brussels though (but they have currently suspended their flights although rumoured to be starting again soon).  The problem with flyng from here via Italy Germany or Brussels is its a longer route with multi connections flying west to fly back eastwards.  Flying/driving from Egypt north up to Turkey & then north again into Bulgaria is the most shortest straightest route.  but beggers cannot be choosers & as long as my dog is safely arrived into Bulgaria & as little stressed as possible that is the most important thing

I did have a cargo flight option with an Egyptian pet relocater with Lufthansa.   But that option collapsed when Lufthansa pulled out their flights from Cairo.  I was not keen on that option as

1) it meant that horrendous road travel from where I live to Cairo and
2) the fee the agent required was absolutely huge (probably because it was a cargo quote).

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