Guide
Layovers and transit with a pet
What the official pages we cover say about stopovers and transit when you travel with a dog or cat, with the exact wording and the page it comes from.
Updated 2026-10-12
- Leaving
A pet that is checked in (not with you) and passes through the European Union needs a separate 'CVI de Trânsito' that meets EU requirements, as well as the CVI for the destination. For a pet that travels with its owner and stays in the customs-controlled transit area, no transit CVI is needed.
“Para trânsito pela União Europeia com animal despachado se faz necessário a emissão de um”
- Leaving
Your pet transits another country: ask both the transit country's and the destination's veterinary authority (or embassy) what extra certification applies.
“additional requirements from both the transit and destination country may apply”
- Leaving
If you pass through non-EU countries, check whether each one has a special transit permit requirement. If you stay inside the international airport area, there are usually no transit requirements.
“Har du transit gennem lande uden for EU, skal du undersøge, om der er særlige krav om transittilladelse i hvert land, du rejser igennem.”
- Entering
Your route has a stopover. If it's in a lower-group country, AFCD's prior approval is needed — and your pet must stay in the airport's cargo transshipment area.
“Prior approval from this department must be sought if the route involves in a stopover in Group III A or IIIB country”
- Entering
The 2026 standard came into force on 1 July 2026. Until 1 April 2027 you may instead comply with the older 2021 standard, which we haven't read. Ask the exporting country's veterinary authority or your pet transport company which one it works to. From 1 April 2027 only the 2026 standard applies.
“From 1 July 2026 to 1 April 2027, the requirements of this import health standard for importing cats and dogs may be met by complying with the requirements of the Import Health Standard for Cats and Dogs, CATDOG.GEN dated 7 April 2021”
- Entering
If your route passes through a country that isn't on the listed-country list, your pet still needs no titer test — but you must sign a declaration that it had no contact with animals that can carry rabies and stayed in the plane/vehicle or inside the international airport. If it leaves the airport there, ask Mattilsynet.
“remain secured within a means of transport or within the perimeter of an international airport”
- Leaving
A layover usually needs no certificate if your pet doesn't pass immigration, but in the European Union even a layover needs quarantine documentation. APQA recommends direct flights.
“in the European Union (EU), even for layovers, quarantine documentation is required.”
- Entering
If you only pass through Türkiye to another country and your pet does not enter, you only have to meet the destination country's health conditions.
“Transit travelers passing through our country en route to another destination shall not be required to fulfill these conditions provided they do not enter our country.”
- Entering
If your pet's route passes through another country, it must not be mixed with other pets during the transit.
“in case that the consignment will cross any other country, it must not mix with other pet animals during transit”
Airlines have their own pet rules on top of any government rules. Those are not covered here.