Lufthansa is the carrier most Canadians end up looking at for a move to Europe that Air Canada cannot take, and it publishes its pet conditions in more detail than almost anyone. Two of those conditions decide a Canadian itinerary before the fare does. The cargo hold is closed on connecting flights through Munich, which removes one of the two German gateways Canadians are routed through. And the cabin limit is 8 kg including the container, which is the number that decides whether this is a simple trip or a freight booking.

This guide covers what Lufthansa requires, what Canada requires on the way out, and the order the two have to be done in. Everything here comes from Lufthansa’s own conditions, the CFIA and the European Commission, checked on 8 September 2026. Airline rules move, so confirm the current version before booking.

The Munich Rule, and Why It Bites Harder From Canada

Lufthansa states that “no animals are accepted in the cargo hold on connecting flights via Munich,” and that animals in the hold cannot be through-checked at Munich Airport. Frankfurt still handles hold connections.

From a Canadian departure that is a routing constraint rather than a footnote. Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver all feed both German hubs, and the booking engine will sell a Munich connection to the human on the itinerary without comment. If the animal is in the hold, the trip has to be built around Frankfurt or around a nonstop, and the connection point is worth confirming on the issued booking rather than on the search results, because schedules get adjusted and the gateway moves with them.

That constraint has a cost attached, which is the part Canadians tend to meet late. Frankfurt handles arriving and transiting animals through its own animal facility, and the handling is charged separately from the freight. The amounts sit on our Canada to Germany cost page with the rest of the route’s line items. Being pushed onto Frankfurt is not a hardship, but it is not free either, and a quote that ignores it will be short.

In the Cabin: 8 kg Including the Container

Lufthansa’s rule is that “the total weight of the transport container, including the animal, must not exceed 8 kg.” That is the loaded bag, not the animal. Roughly 17.6 lb for everything you are carrying.

Weigh the two together on a bathroom scale before you assume anything. A 6 kg cat in a 2 kg carrier is exactly at the ceiling, and a soft bag that weighs a kilo leaves you seven for the animal. Over that number, the trip becomes a cargo booking with a different rulebook, a different price and a different lead time, so this is the first measurement to take rather than the last.

The container may be no larger than 55 x 40 x 23 cm, which Lufthansa also gives as 22 x 16 x 9 in. Our crate size guide for Canada covers measuring the animal against a limit like that.

The Bag Features Lufthansa Refuses

Cabin containers must be soft sided and securely fastenable, and the exclusions are specific. Lufthansa says the container “must not have a sturdy frame, wheels or a telescopic handle, so that it can be stowed under the seat in front of you.”

Worth checking your existing bag against, because wheeled carriers with pull-up handles are widely sold in Canada and a rigid-frame soft carrier looks compliant right up until it is measured. Neither qualifies here.

One animal per container is the default. Lufthansa allows two young animals of comparable size from 12 weeks, two comparable adults, or a mother with one young animal of 0 to 6 weeks still dependent on her, and the 8 kg loaded ceiling applies to the whole container in every case.

In the Hold: Metal Screws, and a Ventilation Rule That Changed

Animals over the cabin limit travel in the temperature-controlled hold in an IATA-compliant container, and Lufthansa is specific about assembly: “containers consisting of an upper and lower part must be securely screwed together with metal screws.”

Canadians will have met this rule already if they have flown a pet domestically, because IATA’s own container requirement says plastic clips must not be the only fasteners and recommends metal nuts and bolts in every hole. Lufthansa states it as a condition rather than a recommendation. The rest of the specification, including the two IATA conditions that Air Canada’s and WestJet’s summaries leave out, is in our guide to airline crate requirements from Canada.

The change to watch is newer. With effect from 4 May 2026, Lufthansa caps ventilation openings at 25 mm x 25 mm for dogs and 19 mm x 19 mm for cats, so an animal cannot push a paw or a nose through. A container that satisfied Lufthansa in 2025 may not satisfy it now, because plenty of standard crates have wider side grilles. If you are reusing a container from an earlier trip, measure the openings. A mesh insert usually solves it, but that is something to arrange in advance rather than at the freight counter.

Snub-Nosed Animals: Cabin Only Since 2020

Lufthansa has barred snub-nosed dogs and cats from the cargo hold since 1 January 2020. They may still travel in the passenger cabin if they meet the cabin conditions, which in practice means the 8 kg loaded ceiling.

Put those two sentences together and the weight limit is doing all the work. A flat-faced dog under 8 kg with its bag has a route. The same breed over it has none on this airline, because the hold is closed to it and there is no third option. For any snub-nosed animal, loaded weight is the question that has to be answered before anything else is arranged.

The cat list is short and specific: British Shorthairs, Exotic Shorthairs, Himalayans, Persians and Scottish Folds. Owners tend to read snub-nosed restrictions as a dog problem, and for those five breeds it is not.

Fighting Dogs, and the Breeds Caught on Both Lists

Lufthansa keeps a separate category it calls fighting or dangerous dogs, naming American Bulldogs, the Dogo Argentino, the Karabash or Kangal, the Caucasian Ovcharka and Rottweilers. These “may only be transported in special crates and only in the cargo hold”, never in the cabin whatever their weight, and the crate is a purpose-built one rather than a retail product. One exception is published: dogs of these breeds aged three to six months may travel in a standard container.

American Bulldogs are worth naming separately, because Lufthansa’s snub-nosed list excludes them by name. They sit in the fighting dog category only, so the hold is open to them in the right crate.

Several breeds are not so lucky. American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, American Bullies and Bull Terriers appear in both places, and Lufthansa notes the overlap itself. The fighting dog rule allows the hold only; the snub-nosed rule closes the hold. What is left is a cabin ceiling of 8 kg that no adult of those breeds will meet.

Germany adds a second layer on top. Lufthansa states that importing Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers and Bull Terriers into Germany is forbidden, while export and transit are permitted. So for a Canadian owner of one of these breeds, Germany as a destination is closed by law and Germany as a transit point is a different question worth putting to the airline directly. Our list of banned dog breeds by country covers how an import prohibition differs from a keeping condition and from a lookalike test, which are three different problems that get reported as one.

What Canada Requires Before the Animal Leaves

None of the above is the constraint that most often moves a Canadian departure date. That is the export certificate.

A pet leaving Canada for the EU needs a certificate completed by your own veterinarian and then endorsed by an official CFIA veterinarian, and the CFIA states that endorsement cannot be done once the animal has left Canada. Nothing about that file can be repaired from Frankfurt. It makes the endorsement appointment a dependency the flight is booked around, not a step you slot in at the end, and our guide to the CFIA health certificate covers the two-step process and what the appointment involves.

The CFIA does not publish a fee for the endorsement. The amount is calculated for you by the officer at the appointment, so treat it as a known unknown rather than a figure to estimate.

The Canadian Advantage: No Titre

Here is the part of a Canada to Europe move that runs easier than the paperwork elsewhere would suggest. The European Commission lists Canada among the non-EU countries and territories under Article 17(1)(b), and an animal moved into the EU from a country on that list does not require a rabies antibody titration test.

That single classification is worth months. Where a titre is required, the sequence runs blood draw, approved laboratory, and a waiting period measured in months, with a booster given one day late restarting the whole thing. From Canada it is simply not on the critical path. Our rabies titre guide covers the destinations where it does still apply, because plenty of them do.

So the real Canadian timeline is set by the microchip and rabies sequence, the endorsement appointment and the container, rather than by a laboratory result.

Booking, and What Actually Sets the Date

Lufthansa requires a hold booking no later than 72 hours before departure. That is the airline’s cutoff for accepting a reservation, not a plan. Space for animals is capped per aircraft and the transatlantic routes fill early in summer.

Everything else runs longer. The EU health certificate has its own issuing window, the CFIA appointment has to be scheduled, and a container that needs a mesh insert or a size change has to be sourced. Treating 72 hours as the timeline is how a Canadian move slips by a month.

Three Checks First

Weigh the animal in the loaded bag against 8 kg. Check the breed against both Lufthansa lists rather than one, and against Germany’s import prohibition if Germany is the destination. Confirm the routing does not put a hold animal on a Munich connection.

Clear all three and the rest is paperwork and a container, both of which lead time solves. Fail one and you are looking for another airline, not a workaround. Air Canada flies the same continent and takes pets in the cabin within its own limits, covered in our Air Canada guide, and British Airways takes none at all, covered in our British Airways guide for Canada.

Frequently asked questions

Can I connect through Munich with my dog?

Not if the dog is in the hold. Lufthansa does not accept animals in the cargo hold on connecting flights via Munich, because they cannot be through-checked there. Frankfurt connections and nonstops are unaffected, and a cabin pet is not caught by the rule at all.

How heavy can my cat be in the Lufthansa cabin?

8 kg for the cat and the bag together, not for the cat alone. The container also has to fit 55 x 40 x 23 cm and cannot have a frame, wheels or a telescopic handle.

Does my pet need a rabies titre leaving Canada for Europe?

No. The European Commission lists Canada under Article 17(1)(b), and animals arriving from a listed country do not require the titration test. The requirement applies to unlisted countries.

Do I need a new crate because of the 2026 ventilation rule?

Only if the openings on your current one exceed 25 mm x 25 mm for a dog or 19 mm x 19 mm for a cat. Measure rather than assume. Most containers that fail can be brought into spec with a mesh insert instead of being replaced.

Can my French Bulldog fly Lufthansa from Toronto?

In the cabin, if the dog and bag together stay under 8 kg. The hold has been closed to snub-nosed breeds since 1 January 2020, so above that weight there is no route on this airline.

Do I still need CFIA paperwork if the airline is German?

Yes. The export certificate and its CFIA endorsement are Canada’s requirements for any animal leaving the country, whichever airline carries it, and the endorsement cannot be done once the animal has gone.

How far ahead should I book?

Lufthansa’s own cutoff is 72 hours before departure, but that is the last possible moment rather than the plan. The endorsement appointment, the certificate window and container sourcing all run longer, and summer capacity out of Canada goes early.

Sources

Checked on 8 September 2026.

A Canada to Europe move is mostly a sequencing problem: the endorsement appointment, the container specification and the gateway have to line up, and Lufthansa’s Munich rule quietly decides the third one. That is the work we do, out of Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Send us the animal and the timing and we will tell you which routings actually hold.

Last updated 8 September 2026