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Dozens of dogs and cats arrived in Athens on Wednesday aboard a government-organized special evacuation flight that also brought their owners from Abu Dhabi, as airline travel across the Middle East has been disrupted by the war. Small dogs appeared immediately after takeoff arrangements, with families describing the trip as essential even after days of uncertainty about whether they could leave with their animals.
The Aegean flight departed from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and carried 45 pets along with 101 people, according to the report. At Athens airport, passengers waited with their animals in travel carry cases before being reunited after landing.
Nikos Chrysakis, the Greek Interior Ministry’s Special Secretary for the Protection of Companion Animals, said the evacuation was organized with help from Greece’s interior and foreign ministries “for days.” He said the effort aimed to produce “good result, for the animals and people to return home safely,” framing the operation as a coordinated government response rather than a carrier-driven one.
The need for a dedicated pet-capable flight reflected wider disruptions to travel linked to the fighting in the Middle East. The report said Israeli and U.S. attacks on Iran have wreaked havoc on airline operations, with countries repeatedly shutting airspace and canceling thousands of flights in hubs including Dubai and Qatar as missiles flew overhead, leaving hundreds of thousands of travelers stranded.
For Danai Koukoulomati, finding a way out that would also allow her cat Muay Thai was non-negotiable. She said, “To me, my pet, my cat is my family. There is no chance I’m going to leave him behind,” adding that she could not find a flight accepting animals in the cabin or as cargo, describing it as “very, very difficult to fly out of the country with your pets.”
Koukoulomati also described how Muay Thai reacted during the journey’s context of conflict. She said that when explosions sounded, “he would hide in the bathroom and that would be all,” and she contrasted his calm with her own stress, saying, “I was not as calm as my cat. I need to take some lessons from him.”
Another passenger, Alexandra Papayanis, arrived from Dubai with a dog named Sirtaki and a second dog she brought for a friend. She said it was “so important” because “our pets are part of our family,” and she described the challenge as bringing “our dogs and our cats back” in the “very difficult circumstance” of the conflict.
Papayanis said returning to Greece with Sirtaki “was absolutely fantastic.” Maria Theochari, also returning from Dubai, said leaving without her dog Matisse was unthinkable, describing Matisse as “Like my kids” and saying, “I don’t separate my animal or my kids, it’s the same for me.”