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 The pampered pets and their owner, Zoe Man, 43, flew on a
private plane from Hong Kong to Japan for a five-day holiday.
The terriers tucked into an inflight meal of grilled salmon and
tender chicken.
Man, vice president of a textile-and-apparel company in Hong
Kong, plans two more trips by private jet this year, part of a
growing number of owners indulging their pets on specialist
holidays.
"I've asked myself why I spend so much money on them," said Man,
who spent over HK$240,000 ($30,600) taking Ding Dong and Fun Fun
on the trip to Osaka, Japan last year.
"I've wondered whether they know the difference. But I think
they do know - they must have known the air smelt different,"
she said, sitting next to Fun Fun who was clad in a padded
jacket.
Hong Kong travel company Life Travel, which organized Man's
trip, started flying pooches and their owners last year from
Hong Kong to Japan, currently its only destination for these
tours.
On commercial flights, pets are typically carried in the hold.
On its private jets, small dogs sit on their owner's lap, while
bigger dogs can lie on the floor, Life Travel said.
Life Travel's pet holidays start from around HK$70,000, for a
week in Okinawa, Japan. It even offers "petmiles" as an added
incentive.
Meals and water are served to both dogs and owners and after
arriving at their destination, they are taken to designated
pet-friendly accommodation.
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Consumer spending on pets in China is growing at about 20 percent a
year and will be a $7 billion market by 2022, market research firm
Euromonitor International says. The pet market in the United States
is growing around 2 percent a year.
Chinese airline Hainan Airlines, owned by HNA Group, said in January
that it was testing a pilot scheme to allow travelers to bring small
pets with them on certain domestic routes.
Life Travel organized three trips to Japan last year and is planning
13 in 2018 and 50 in 2019. It plans to offer trips to other
countries, including the United States, this year but customs
policies and quarantine requirements mean certain destinations, such
as Australia, are off the cards.
Although the company has received requests to take cats, turtles,
parrots, and even a hamster on its luxury trips, Life Travel founder
Raymond Chung said that for now the company is sticking with dogs
only.
"There is a huge market out there. We were just able to see the
demand and start a little earlier than others,” Chung said.
(Additonal reporting by Wyman Ma; Writing by Farah Master; Editing
by James Pomfret and Neil Fullick)
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