AIR FRANCE KLM MARTINAIR Cargo is one of the few airline companies with its own animal hotel at Schiphol airport. It is fully equipped to care for animals before, during and after their journey. Specially trained animal stewards ensure that the animals travel as comfortably and safely as possible in a partitioned environment. Giant pandas are not transported very often. However, AIR FRANCE KLM MARTINAIR Cargo has already transported giant pandas a few times. We used this experience to safely fly Xing Ya and Wu Wen to the Netherlands.
On 26 October 2015, when King Willem Alexander and Queen Maxima visited China, the President of China, Xi Jinping, agreed to allow zoological cooperation between the Netherlands and China with a view to protecting the giant panda. In the presence of President Xi Jinping and King Willem Alexander, a cooperation agreement was signed by Ouwehands Dierenpark in the Netherlands and the Chinese Wildlife Conservation Association.
The giant panda is an endangered species that only exists in the wild in China. The most recent count revealed that only around 1,850 giant pandas roam free in the wild. The Netherlands is one of the few countries outside China where this unique and endangered species can be viewed by the public.
Two special transport cages were built and installed in the cargo hold of a Boeing 747 Combi aircraft, which was kept at a comfortable temperature for the pandas, who set off for a 9.5-hour flight. A KLM Cargo animal attendant accompanied the pandas, looking after them, keeping them calm, and serving them travel snacks in the form of many kilos of bamboo.
In honour of its special passengers, KLM temporarily named its Boeing 747 Combi after the two pandas: “Wu Wen & Xing Ja.”
This is not the first time KLM has welcomed a panda on board. In 2012, KLM carried “Fu Hu” to the Chinese city of Chengdu aboard a Boeing 747 Combi.
Two Giant Pandas on board