ITA Airways large dogs in cabin: allowed within Italy, not into Italy
The short version
ITA Airways started carrying dogs of up to 30 kg (66 lb) in the cabin on 3 August 2026, on a mat beside their pet parent rather than inside a carrier.
The service is called Large Dog On Board and runs on 42 selected domestic Italian flights across 13 airports.
Two large dogs per flight, maximum: one of 10 kg to 15 kg in Economy, one of 15 kg to 30 kg in Business Class.
You buy two tickets plus a flat €95 transport fee, and you book by phone at least four days ahead.
Flying into Italy has not changed. ITA's cabin limit on international flights is still 8 kg for pet, carrier and food combined.
ITA Airways has started flying dogs of up to 30 kg in the cabin, not in a carrier but in a space reserved for the dog next to its pet parent. Until now, a dog that size flew in the hold. The first tickets went on sale on 29 July 2026 and the service went live on 3 August 2026.
It is a genuine first for European commercial aviation, and it is being covered as though a door has opened for anyone travelling to Italy with a big dog. It has not, yet. Large Dog On Board runs on selected domestic Italian routes only. If you are flying into Italy from the US or anywhere else outside the country, ITA's international cabin limit is still 8 kg for your dog, carrier and food combined.
So the honest version is this: Italy has made it possible to fly across Italy with a large dog. Getting that dog to Italy in the first place is the part that has not changed.
What is ITA Airways Large Dog On Board?
Large Dog On Board is a service ITA Airways operates under an authorization granted by ENAC, the Italian civil aviation authority. It lets a dog of up to 30 kg travel in the cabin, harnessed to a seat belt on a mat on the floor, instead of in the hold or in an under-seat carrier.
The rules, as ITA publishes them:
Dogs up to 30 kg (about 66 lb) travel in the cabin without a carrier.
Your dog must be at least six months old, twice ITA's usual three-month minimum for pets flying in a carrier.
Two large dogs per flight, maximum. Not two per cabin. Two per aircraft.
Assistance dogs come first. One recognized assistance dog on board cuts the large-dog places to one. With two on board, the service may not run on that flight at all.
You buy two tickets, not one. The second ticket holds the dog's space: it travels on an ITA-supplied mat on the floor in front of its own window seat, with you in the seat alongside. On top of the two fares there is a flat €95 transport fee per flight.
Booking is by phone, at least four days before the flight, and only through ITA's CIAO contact centre: +1 877 793 1717 from the US, staffed 24 hours, or +39 06 8596 0020 in Italy, open 7am to 10pm daily. Calling from elsewhere, ITA lists a number for each country, including +44 1904 211300 in the UK and +1 866 725 7077 in Canada. The booking cannot be made online, added through a travel agent, or attached to a reservation you already hold.
Selected domestic scheduled flights only.
How big can your dog be, and where do you sit?
Your dog's weight | Where your dog travels | Places per flight |
|---|---|---|
Up to 10 kg (22 lb) | Economy, in a carrier, on one ticket, as before | Two for now, rising to four |
Over 10 kg, up to 15 kg (22 to 33 lb) | Economy, last row, on a mat, two tickets | One |
Over 15 kg, up to 30 kg (33 to 66 lb) | Business Class, front row, on a mat, two tickets | One |
Over 30 kg (66 lb) | Not accepted in the cabin | None |
The 15 kg line is the one that costs money. The larger place is the front row, which is the Business cabin, so a dog over 15 kg means buying two Business Class tickets rather than an Economy fare with a supplement on top. The smaller place is the last row, in Economy.
Can you fly into Italy with a large dog?
Not in the cabin. ITA's cabin allowance on international flights is 8 kg for pet, carrier and food together. That is a small dog in a soft carrier under the seat. The 12 kg domestic allowance and the new 30 kg Large Dog places both stop at the Italian border.
One other ITA rule catches people out: standard carrier travel is dogs and cats only, from three months old.
So a large dog reaching Italy from outside the country arrives in the hold, on ITA or on another carrier, and can then connect onto a Large Dog flight within Italy. That combination is possible. It is just a very different trip from the one the headlines suggest.
If your dog is a snub-nosed breed, that hold leg is the problem: ITA will not carry brachycephalic dogs or cats in the hold, and neither will most other major carriers. A flat-faced dog too heavy for the cabin has no route in. See The Real Reason Flying with Snub-Nosed Dogs Is So Risky.
Which flights qualify?
ITA publishes the full list of qualifying services. As of 4 August 2026 it runs to 42 flights across 13 Italian airports, all mid-day departures, the earliest at 11.05 and the latest at 17.35.
The airports are Rome Fiumicino, Milan Linate, Bologna, Turin, Genoa, Trieste, Venice, Bari, Brindisi, Lamezia Terme, Reggio Calabria, Palermo and Catania. Rome Fiumicino appears on 12 of the 14 route pairs. The other two are Milan Linate to Palermo and Milan Linate to Catania.
Check your flight number against ITA's published table before you plan anything else.
Flying with a small dog on one of these flights? Book early
For the first two months, ITA carries a maximum of two standard-sized dogs on Large Dog flights: 10 kg and under, in Economy only, seated at least eight rows away from the large dogs. After that, the standard-dog allowance goes up to four.
So if you are flying with a small dog in a carrier and your flight happens to be a Large Dog flight, there are fewer small-dog places on board than usual until roughly the start of October 2026. If you are still choosing a bag, our guide to what makes a pet carrier acceptable for in-cabin travel covers what airlines actually check.
What this signals for the rest of Europe
ITA is explicit that it intends to expand: more domestic routes first, then international flights, subject to regulators reviewing the limits and procedures. The demonstration flight that led to this ran in September 2025, from Milan Linate to Rome Fiumicino, with two large dogs in the cabin. It has taken roughly eleven months to get from that to two paid places on scheduled flights.
Until now, the working assumption across commercial aviation was that a dog too big for an under-seat carrier travels in the hold. Italy has put a regulated alternative on the table, and other European authorities will be watching how the first months go.
For how airline pet rules are set, and why they vary this much between carriers and routes, see What You Need to Know About the IATA Live Animal Regulations for Pet Travel.
Before you book: ten checks
Confirm the flight is a Large Dog flight. Check your flight number against ITA's published table first. Everything else depends on it.
Weigh your dog properly. The 15 kg line decides whether you are buying Economy or Business.
Call at least four days ahead. Book the flight and the dog's place in the same call. A place cannot be added to a ticket you already hold, and a travel agent cannot arrange it for you.
Buy the harness first. It has to be crash tested to CMVSS 213 or FMVSS 213, your dog is secured to the seat belt with it for the whole flight, and it is checked at check-in. No compliant harness, no flight. A collar, lead and muzzle are required as well.
Arrange pet liability insurance. It is mandatory for these bookings, and you need the certificate at check-in.
Time the vet visit carefully. The health certificate must be dated no more than 20 days before the flight, and it has to confirm your dog is fit to fly, well behaved and within the weight limit.
Check your breed. If your dog is flat-faced, the hold is closed to you on ITA, so the cabin is the only route. Ask CIAO whether a Large Dog place is available to brachycephalic breeds before you plan around it.
Check the whole journey, not the Italian leg. The international flight in and out is governed by the 8 kg cabin rule or by hold transport.
Allow extra time at the airport. There is no online check-in for these bookings.
Have the rest of the paperwork ready: an EU pet passport or animal health certificate, an ISO microchip, current rabies vaccination and antiparasitic treatment. Europe tightened its pet travel checks on 22 April, so allow for slower processing.
Sources
All primary sources checked on 4 August 2026.
ITA Airways, Large Dog On Board. Weight bands, cabin placement by aircraft type, the two-dog cap, the €95 fee, the six-month minimum age, the CMVSS 213 and FMVSS 213 harness standard, mandatory pet liability insurance, and the 20-day health certificate window.
ITA Airways, Large Dog On Board press release (PDF, 29 July 2026). The 3 August launch date, ticket sale date, Business and Economy placement, the small-dog phasing from two to four, and ITA's stated intention to extend the service to international flights.
ITA Airways, qualifying flight table (PDF). The 42 flights, 13 airports, route pairs and departure times.
ITA Airways, Pets in cabin. The 12 kg domestic and 8 kg international cabin limits, the three-month minimum age, and dogs and cats only.
ITA Airways, Pets as cargo. The suspension of hold carriage for brachycephalic dogs and cats from 26 October 2025, the IATA-based breed list, and the statement that cabin transport remains available for all breeds.
ITA Airways, contact numbers. The CIAO contact centre numbers and their opening hours by country.
Airline rules, route rules and country rules rarely line up, and it only takes one of them to stop the trip. PadsPass checks all three before you book. Start with your route, or browse our airline pet policy guides.