In a move welcomed by nervous fliers, the tiny Kenyan airline Icarus Air has announced that from March 1st it will allow passengers to be accompanied by a giraffe as an ‘emotional support animal’.
FAA regulation 4A-29147 (Appendix G) currently restricts such animals to domestic pets including cats, dogs, small birds (excluding pigeons) and ‘other such creature as shall be deemed to be of essential psychological reassurance to a passenger during his/her/its flight’.
It is this last phrase which Icarus Air successfully cited in a recent Supreme Court appeal, leading to the market-leading announcement. We understand that passengers will be permitted one giraffe each, up to a maximum height of 4 metres. Giraffes will have no duty-free allowance but will each be allowed a 22 kg carry-on basket of Arcacia leaves.
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