Er Shun & Da Mao will Fly First Class
The FedEx Panda Express will leave Chengdu, China and travel 12,875 kilometers across the Pacific before landing in Toronto, Canada on March 25, 2013! The pandas will be carefully off-loaded and brought to the Toronto Zoo where they will stay for the next five years.
First the pandas have to get to the airport on time for their departure. Da Mao lives in the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding so his commute to the Chengdu airport will be relatively short. Er Shun on the other hand will be travelling for about four hours before she reaches the tarmac. Once they’re on-board the total flight time will be over 15 hours.
panda plane provisionsThe FedEx® flight crew that will be on board the Panda Express was specifically chosen because of their experience with transporting large animals and our Load Master will travel with the pandas to ensure the pandas safely get both on and off the plane. For the Chengdu-Toronto move, we’re privileged to have a Load Master with five panda shipments under his belt, including the first ever FedEx panda flight back in 2000.
Our goal is to have the pandas’ travel be as comfortable as possible. The on-board vet and two attendants will have constant access to the pandas at all times during the flight, with a small exception of course, during take-off and landing where the attendants are required to be safely seated with seatbelts on.
Before a typical flight, most of us make a list and pack a few items in our carry on so we’re comfortable while on board. Pandas are no different – the vet and attendants will need to make sure they have the following on board for each panda: 100 kgs of bamboo, 150 kgs bamboo shoots, 50 kg of apples, 15 kgs of fresh water.
In-flight catering and a comfortable cabin temperature for the pandas should make for an enjoyable journey half way across the world!
Source: FedEx Express Canada
