Air Premia cabin crew volunteers at stray dog shelter in Goyang

Hybrid carrier Air Premia said Monday it had visited Bring Me Home, a medium-to-large dog adoption center in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, to carry out volunteer work.

The activity, aimed at protecting abandoned animals and fostering a healthy adoption culture, is part of Air Premia's regular corporate social responsibility program. Eleven cabin crew members from the airline's volunteer club Angel Premia took part, cleaning kennels, tidying the surrounding grounds and helping socialize the shelter dogs through snack time and play activities.

As more Koreans treat pets as family members — a trend dubbed "pet-fam" — traveling abroad with animals has grown more common. Air Premia, an international-only carrier focused on long-haul routes including those to the Americas, has seen consistent growth in pet transport demand. About 900 pets flew with the airline in the first half of this year, up roughly 80 percent from about 500 in the same period last year.

Air Premia operates dedicated transport standards and procedures so customers traveling overseas with pets can do so with peace of mind. Each adult passenger may bring one pet into the cabin, with exceptions allowing two puppies or kittens under six months old, a mother and her offspring, or a pair of birds to travel together. Passengers must also meet the quarantine conditions and entry requirements of their destination country.

"We plan to continue supporting our crew members' volunteer activities and to make diverse efforts to build a healthy pet-travel culture where animals and passengers can travel together, grounded in our respect for all living things," an Air Premia official said.

Meanwhile, about 30 Angel Premia members recently took elderly visitors from a rehabilitation day-care center in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, on a walking outing at Banghwa Neighborhood Park, part of the club's ongoing efforts to fulfill the airline's broader social responsibilities.