{"id":25254728,"date":"2026-09-28T10:57:30","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T08:57:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/flying-animals-pandas-horses-orca-keiko-air-cargo-live-animal-transport\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T22:42:49","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T20:42:49","slug":"flying-animals-pandas-horses-orca-keiko-air-cargo-live-animal-transport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/flying-animals-pandas-horses-orca-keiko-air-cargo-live-animal-transport\/","title":{"rendered":"Flying Animals: How Pandas, Horses and an Orca Travel by Air"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\n\n<style>\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid 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It made headlines, but it was not unusual. Every year airlines and air forces move racehorses, zoo animals, livestock and even whales by air, in some of the most carefully planned flights anywhere in aviation.<\/p>\r\n<p>Flying an animal is not like flying a parcel. It has to breathe, stay calm, stay at the right temperature and arrive fit. Here is how that works, through three of the most famous passengers ever to travel in a hold.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f4f6fa;border:1px solid #e2e7ee;padding:18px 22px;margin:22px 0 28px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;color:#0d1117;font-size:17px\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:20px;line-height:1.75\"><li><strong>Pandas:<\/strong> FedEx says it has flown 23 giant pandas to and from China since 2000, most recently on a 777F to Atlanta in September 2026<\/li><li><strong>Olympic horses:<\/strong> 325 horses were flown to Tokyo for the 2020 Games, according to the FEI<\/li><li><strong>Horse class:<\/strong> Two horses per pallet or flying stable, with grooms and a vet on board (FEI)<\/li><li><strong>Whales:<\/strong> Keiko, the orca from Free Willy, flew on a UPS L-100 Hercules in 1996 and a <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/air-forces\/united-states-air-force\/\">USAF<\/a> C-17 in 1998<\/li><li><strong>Key concerns:<\/strong> Air supply, temperature, noise, loading, and keeping the animal calm<\/li><li><strong>Typical aircraft:<\/strong> Wide-body freighters and military transports<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Horses Fly Business Class<\/h2>\r\n<p>Racehorses and show jumpers are among the world's most frequent flyers. For the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, 325 horses were flown into Japan, according to the F\u00e9d\u00e9ration Equestre Internationale (FEI). The first dressage load flew from Li\u00e8ge in Belgium on an Emirates SkyCargo Boeing 777F, via Dubai, and 36 horses landed at Haneda: the first full cargo load of horses the airport had ever handled.<\/p>\r\n<p>The horses travel two to a pallet in an enclosed flying stable, which the FEI cheerfully compares to business class. Flying grooms and a vet travel with them, and the horses can snack on hay throughout the flight. Every one of them has a passport and goes through health checks and quarantine before boarding. And no, they do not need flat beds: horses can sleep standing up.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;To see these horses arriving at Haneda airport is a truly historic occasion, and what makes it even more special is that these are not simply horses, they are Olympic horses.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Takahashi Koji<\/strong> &mdash; Administrator of Tokyo International Airport (Haneda), July 2021, via the FEI<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LYa2cMiwYlQ\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/emirates-skycargo-boeing-777f-everett.jpg\" alt=\"Emirates SkyCargo Boeing 777F\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">An Emirates SkyCargo Boeing 777F, the type that flew European dressage horses to the Tokyo Olympics. Photo: DearEdward \/ CC BY 2.0 (not the Olympic flight)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Pandas on the Panda Express<\/h2>\r\n<p>FedEx has turned panda moves into a brand. Its \"FedEx Panda Express\" flights carry the bears in custom crates they are trained to use beforehand, with keepers alongside. On the September 2026 Chengdu to Atlanta flight, the two pandas were the only cargo on the aircraft, and the flight lasted almost 16 hours nonstop.<\/p>\r\n<p>A dedicated freighter lets the airline control everything: no other cargo, no extra stops, and a cabin environment set for the animals rather than for a load of electronics.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;We have had the privilege of transporting giant pandas for more than two decades, and every time the FedEx Panda Express is called into service, our entire team feels the significance of the mission.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Richard W. Smith<\/strong> &mdash; Chief Operating Officer, International, and Chief Executive Officer, Airline, FedEx (press release, 27 September 2026)<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Orca Who Flew Twice<\/h2>\r\n<p>The most extraordinary animal flights involve marine mammals, which cannot simply sit in a crate. Keiko, the orca who starred in the film Free Willy, was flown out of Mexico City in January 1996 on a Lockheed L-100 Hercules donated by UPS, bound for a new rehabilitation pool at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. He weighed about 3,500 kilograms at the time.<\/p>\r\n<p>On 9 September 1998 he flew again, this time to Iceland, to be prepared for release into the wild. He travelled in a specially built tank about nine metres long, filled with enough seawater to cover him and cooled with ice, inside a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III. The landing at the short airfield on the island of Heimaey did not go perfectly: the C-17 suffered a landing gear failure that caused more than a million dollars of damage. Keiko was unharmed.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/keiko-orca-transport-tank-loading-c-17-1998.jpg\" alt=\"Keiko the orca in his transport tank being loaded for the C-17 flight\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">US Air Force cargo handlers load the tank carrying Keiko onto a 60K Tunner loader at Newport, Oregon, on 9 September 1998, before his C-17 flight to Iceland. Photo: Master Sgt. Dave Nolan, U.S. Air Force, public domain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GmZ4lpxBZVE\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What Makes It Work<\/h2>\r\n<p>The rules for moving animals by air are set out by IATA's Live Animals Regulations, and every flight is planned around the species: crate or stall design, ventilation, temperature, feeding, and who travels with the animals. Crews fly smoothly, avoid unnecessary noise on the ground and keep loading times short.<\/p>\r\n<p>Airlines have built entire businesses around this. Qatar Airways, Emirates, Lufthansa, KLM and others run dedicated live-animal services, and film crews have followed some memorable flights, from rescued lions on a Qatar Airways 777 to entire stables of show horses.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PmguxdVHJIM\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n<p>For aviation, the lesson is that the most precious cargo is not always a satellite or an engine. Sometimes it has four legs, or fins, and a keeper sitting beside it for the whole flight.<\/p>\r\n<p><em>Sources: FEI press release (15 July 2021); FedEx press release (27 September 2026); Wikipedia (Keiko); U.S. Department of Defense image records.<\/em><\/p>\n\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\n\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\n\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\n\n\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>How are horses transported by plane?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Horses fly in enclosed stalls on pallets, usually two per pallet, inside wide-body freighters. Grooms and a vet travel with them, they can eat hay during the flight, and each horse has a passport and goes through health checks and quarantine before boarding.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How many horses were flown to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">According to the FEI, 325 horses were flown into Tokyo for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The first dressage horses flew from Li\u00e8ge on an Emirates SkyCargo Boeing 777F via Dubai to Haneda.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How was Keiko the orca flown to Iceland?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">On 9 September 1998, Keiko flew from Newport, Oregon, to Vestmannaeyjar in Iceland in a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III. He travelled in a specially built tank about nine metres long, filled with seawater and cooled with ice.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What happened to the C-17 that carried Keiko?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The C-17 suffered a landing gear failure when it landed at Vestmannaeyjar Airport in Iceland, causing more than one million dollars of damage. Keiko was unharmed and was moved to a sea pen in Klettsv\u00edk Bay.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How many pandas has FedEx transported?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">FedEx says that including the September 2026 flight of Ping Ping and Fu Shuang to Atlanta, it has transported 23 giant pandas to and from China since 2000, on flights it brands as the FedEx Panda Express.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How are horses transported by plane?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Horses fly in enclosed stalls on pallets, usually two per pallet, inside wide-body freighters. Grooms and a vet travel with them, they can eat hay during the flight, and each horse has a passport and goes through health checks and quarantine before boarding.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How many horses were flown to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"According to the FEI, 325 horses were flown into Tokyo for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The first dressage horses flew from Li\u00e8ge on an Emirates SkyCargo Boeing 777F via Dubai to Haneda.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How was Keiko the orca flown to Iceland?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"On 9 September 1998, Keiko flew from Newport, Oregon, to Vestmannaeyjar in Iceland in a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III. 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Keiko was unharmed and was moved to a sea pen in Klettsv\u00edk Bay.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How many pandas has FedEx transported?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"FedEx says that including the September 2026 flight of Ping Ping and Fu Shuang to Atlanta, it has transported 23 giant pandas to and from China since 2000, on flights it brands as the FedEx Panda Express.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/fedex-panda-express-777f-ping-ping-fu-shuang-chengdu-atlanta-2026\/\">FedEx Panda Express: A 777F Flies Two Giant Pandas to Atlanta<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/aviation-traders-carvair-car-ferry-aircraft\/\">The Plane You Drove Your Car Into<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/national-airlines-777f-record-prestwick-melbourne-2026\/\">A 777 Flew Scotland to Australia Nonstop<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From Olympic horses flying two to a stall to Keiko the orca in a seawater tank aboard a C-17, how airlines and air forces move live animals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":25254414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[665],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25254728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aviation-world"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Flying Animals: Pandas, Horses and an Orca by Air | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Flying animals by air: how 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60K Tunner cargo loader approaches a C-17 Globemaster III in preparation for loading the specially made transport tank containing Keiko, the killer whale star of the \\\"Free Willy\\\" movie, at the Newport Municipal Airport in Newport, Oregon, on Sept. 9, 1998. 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