Barking Mad? Birthday Dog Upgraded To Business Class On Singapore

This past week, a greyhound rescue had the experience of a lifetime when he was allowed to fly in business class with his owner on a Singapore Airlines flight during a trip from Melbourne to Italy. The flight, operated by an Airbus A350-900, was nearly empty, which allowed for Lewis the greyhound to have this unique opportunity.

Lewis enjoying the flight, curled up on his own doggie bed atop a business class seat. Photo: Greyt Greys Rescue

An almost empty cabin

With travel restrictions still in place, for the time being, flights from Australia might takeoff much emptier than usual. This was the case in late September for the owner of a greyhound, who was moving from Melbourne to an undisclosed location in Italy.

After saving up big, the (human) traveler purchased a business class ticket for herself on Singapore Airlines. Part of her “baggage” for the trip was her new dog, a greyhound rescue by the name of Lewis.

With the flight almost empty, Greyt Greys Rescue of Victoria, Australia, reported in a Facebook post that the airline let Lewis fly in the cabin rather than being forced to fly in a crate in the aircraft’s cargo hold. The organization added:

“Lewis made himself at home and was fine for the flights! No crying and no accidents. The flight crew said he was the best dog they’ve EVER had including fully trained service dogs.”

Greyt Greys added that Lewis celebrated his birthday on the plane “and was totally spoiled by the staff.”

SIA business class would undoubtedly be a huge step up from a crate in a cargo hold. Photo: Greyt Greys Rescue

What was Lewis flying on?

Perhaps not of as much interest to the general public as to aviation enthusiasts, we thought it might be interesting to note the aircraft that Lewis the greyhound and his owner were flying on.

From Melbourne to Singapore Changi, Singapore Airlines operates an Airbus A350-900. The aircraft typically used to fly this service are configured with 40 seats in business class and 263 in economy. This same configuration is selected for the airline’s flights from Singapore to Rome. Currently, the airline is operating this service with a stop in Copenhagen.

If our traveler and her furry friend were flying to Milan, then the Singapore Airlines A350-900 operating the service would have been configured with 42 business class seats, 24 in premium economy, and 187 in economy. This flight would have flown directly from Singapore to Milan Malpensa but would have continued on to Barcelona’s El Prat Airport.

Returning to Germany is far easier than traveling to Singapore. Photo: Vincenzo Pace – Simple Flying

Canine class

It wasn’t just Lewis who had the special opportunity to fly business class in September. In fact, on September 15^th, A Maltese had the entire business class cabin booked by its owner. The flight was Air India flight AI671, which fly from Mumbai to Chennai.

As we noted in a previous article, a single business class seat on that relatively short flight would have cost around ₹18,000 (around $250). Therefore, booking an entire business class cabin on the A320neo couldn’t have been cheap.

One lucky pup. Photo: Greyt Greys Rescue

However, if we do the math and multiply that cost by the 12 business class seats onboard, the cost might have actually been less than paying for a single Singapore Airlines business class seat from Australia to Italy.

In the end, it looks like Lewis the greyhound got a much better deal in terms of space and seating!

What do you think of this dog getting some special treatment? Let us know by leaving a comment!

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