Flying with a puppy within Colombia: age, documents and costs

The reference we work with is the one Aerocivil (Aeronáutica Civil, Colombia’s civil aviation authority) announced and Noticias RCN reported on October 7, 2025: a minimum age of eight weeks. That is a press report, not the text of the rule, and we were not able to consult each airline’s current policy, so treat it as a starting point.

It matches the minimum at which our puppies go home: never before eight weeks. In practice it is worth waiting a little longer: a puppy that travels further along in its vaccination schedule travels more safely.

In the cabin. The published conditions refer to pets of up to 10 kg (22 lb) including the carrier (a guacal, in Colombian Spanish). A two- or three-month-old puppy of any of the small breeds fits easily; a Border Collie or Bernese puppy depends on its age and its weight that day.

The hold is another matter. A puppy a few weeks old, alone, in a compartment nobody sees during the flight and the wait on the tarmac, is a risk we don’t take.

At Casa Trufa a puppy does not travel alone: not in the hold, not as cargo, not with a courier company. If it has to fly, it goes in the cabin with a person.

• Vaccination record, up to date for the puppy’s age and signed by a veterinarian.
• A recent veterinary health certificate. Each airline sets how many days before the flight it may be issued.
• Advance notice: the published conditions mention 48 hours. Pet spaces per flight are limited, so it is worth telling the airline when you get your ticket.
• A carrier, rigid or soft, that meets the airline’s measurements, with an absorbent base.

The Superintendencia de Transporte’s guide to traveling with pets (it is Colombia’s transport regulator) summarizes passengers’ rights. The rules usually quoted from ICA (Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario, Colombia’s agricultural and animal-health authority) are for entering or leaving the country, not for domestic flights. Taking a dog out of Colombia is a different matter: see taking a dog from Colombia to the US, Canada or Europe.

The same press report mentions in-cabin pet fees from COP 75,000. Each airline has its own and it changes with the route. Add to that the fare of the person traveling with the puppy, the carrier and the veterinary certificate.

As a reference for what a third party charges for the whole trip: in October 2026 a breeder in Cundinamarca published fees of COP 360,000 to Medellín or Cali and COP 400,000 to the Coffee Region (Eje Cafetero). They are not our fees, and we don’t know exactly what they include.

A lot. It is a bill on air transport of pets — the name means “We are not luggage” — which, according to press reports from February 2026, would set a minimum age of five months to fly and ban the hold except in specific cases. The press reported that it passed its second debate in the House of Representatives (Cámara); we could not confirm that it has been signed into law, or with what final text.

If it takes effect in that form, a two- or three-month-old puppy could no longer fly, and handovers to distant cities would have to be by road, with pickup in person, or later. It is one of the reasons we don’t promise “delivery anywhere in the country.”

There is a second bill, Senate Bill 002 of 2025 on breeding and selling, which would raise the minimum age for handing over a puppy to four months. We could not confirm its status either.

For domestic journeys by road, no health certificate is required. What transport companies ask for is a vaccination record, a carrier and advance notice. The same applies as on a plane: a puppy does not travel alone.

A car journey with stops, with someone alongside, is almost always calmer for the puppy than a flight, and it is the first thing we consider when the distance allows it.

• Get it used to the carrier in the days before, with the door open and something that smells of its litter.
• A light meal a few hours before, and water up to the last moment.
• A blanket carrying the scent of its mother and littermates.
• No sedatives unless the veterinarian expressly says so.
• No visitors at home on arrival day: it has had enough new things already.

Every handover is agreed with the family, in writing, before anyone commits to anything. We choose the calmest way for the puppy that the distance allows, and when the climate at the destination does not suit the breed, we say so beforehand. The details, with all 33 departments (Colombia’s equivalent of states or provinces) and a municipality search, are in Delivery.