Traveling with your pet? There are now more places at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport for your pet to take a bathroom break.
Kelly Yamanouchi
Kelly Yamanouchi
The airport said earlier this year it is adding areas for pets to relieve themselves on every concourse, with a total of nine planned throughout the airport, according to Atlanta airport spokesman Reese McCranie. The addition of more pet relief areas is a move to comply with federal requirements.
Kelly Yamanouchi
Kelly Yamanouchi
Until recently, Hartsfield-Jackson only had pet relief areas outside the domestic and international terminals in pre-security areas, including a dog park outside the domestic terminal and a pet relief area outside the international terminal.
The federal government last year issued a rule saying airports with 10,000 or more passengers boarding planes annually would need to provide wheelchair-accessible animal relief areas for service animals by August 2016. Federal law requires airports that receive federal funds to be accessible to the disabled.
Hartsfield-Jackson has opened two new pet relief areas, on Concourses B and C. The rest on other concourses are taking longer than expected and will be completed by February 2017, according to the airport.
With the federal deadline passed, the Federal Aviation Administration said it "will work with airports on a case-by-case basis to ensure that the service animal relief area requirement is met."
Although the federal requirement is intended to accommodate service animals for disabled passengers connecting, departing or arriving at the airport, McCranie said the Atlanta airport’s pet relief areas would be available to all passengers’ pets.
The federal rule requires one animal relief area in each terminal, including in sterile areas of the airport.
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