Animals are not a rare sight on aircraft given that around 200,000 live animal shipments were recorded by IATA in 2024, and that figure has been on an ever upward trend since 2019. For the past half-century, how they are to be handled and transported has been laid out in IATA’s Live Animals Regulations or LAR for short. This was also launched in digital form, last year – LAR Verify is a portal designed to improve the animals’ welfare and safe transport. The LAR is continuously updated and, this year, the focus is particularly on container specifications and correct use. Both facets depend heavily on what kind of animal is being transported. And just how varied animal transports can be, was shown in three separate air cargo stories recently.
First off: The Cute
Air Charter Service was contacted with a large and pretty fluffy – not to mention heart-warming – project request: to assist in the transport of 208 pet cats and dogs to their new forever homes. These were rescue animals that had been collected in the Californian city of Merced and were destined to find owners in Oregon and Washington.
Thomas Howe, CEO of ACS California, commented: “We were approached by a charity that we have worked with before, to fly more than 200 rescue cats and dogs, many of the dogs were very young puppies, to three different rehoming programs in northern states, so they could start their new lives. Flying them means that the animals are in transit for much less time than they would be travelling by road. There are several specialist considerations when arranging charters with animals on board, so we sent one of our team to Merced to oversee the loading, ensuring that everything went smoothly. As this was for a charity, they enlisted a team of volunteers to help load the aircraft, which resulted in an efficient operation, with all animals securely on board in a little over an hour. The aircraft made three drops, first in Salem, Oregon, where it was on the ground for just over 30 minutes, before flying to Arlington and Spokane in Washington. The cats and dogs all arrived at their final destinations safely, and ready to start their new lives. It’s charters like this where we feel that we’re making a real difference, not only to the animals, but to the people who will be welcoming them to their families.”
The Wild
From the cute to the crucial. Air France KLM Martinair Cargo recently participated in an important mission aimed at rewilding a species at great risk of extinction: Mountain Bongos. It is estimated that there are currently only 66 Mountain Bongos living in the wild in Kenya. With the airline’s part in the ‘Return of the Bongos to Kenya’ project, that figure has increased by four. Four robust, male Bongos from a Zoo in the Czech Republic, were chosen (on account of their age, health and genetic suitability) to be flown to Kenya, for release into the wild, where it is hoped they will further increase the population. The project was a collaborative effort between the Kenya Wildlife Service, Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy, and international conservation partners such as the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA).
Cited in Business News Kenya, Pier Luigi Vigada, Air France–KLM Martinair Cargo’s Regional Director for East & Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean, stated: “This operation demonstrates what is possible when aviation and conservation work hand in hand. We are proud to support a mission that contributes directly to the survival of one of Africa’s most iconic and endangered species.”
Joris Holtus, Air France-KLM’s General Manager for East and Southern Africa, Nigeria and Ghana, added: “As an airline group, we are vividly aware of the greater purpose that global connectivity serves. That’s why, whenever we receive a call to support conservation initiatives like the transfer of the mountain bongos and lions, we do respond without hesitation.”
The Boney
The most unusual transport of all, recently, was that of ‘Rocky and Regina’. As Lufthansa Cargo’s ESG/CSR Lead, Bettina Petzold, wittily announced on LinkedIn: “Our oldest VIPs on their way to China” and posted images of the dinosaurs that traveled from Munich to Beijing, last month.At 67 million years old, she’s probably right about the mother and son Tyrannosaurus rex duo who boarded the China-bound flight, having left their home in the Dinosaurier Museum Altmühltal, for an extended holiday at Beijing’s Natural History of China Museum. They are the stars of the show in “A Special Exhibition for the King of Dinosaurs” which opened on 01MAY26 and will run through to 11OCT26. Some time after that, they’ll fly Lufthansa Cargo’s Dino-Class back, again with the help of forwarders Art by Pro and Art to Move.
The photo shows a replica of Regina’s 1.3-meter skull, which was specially showcased airside to give an idea of the boxed-up treasures that were being loaded into the aircraft. Rocky and Regina are of particular historical and scientific interest because they are genuine fossils of some of the most complete T-rex skeletons every discovered. Rocky – the only known juvenile T-rex skeleton in the world – was found in the late 1990s. He measures almost 10 meters in length and is around 60% complete, whilst his mother, Regina, is a fully grown adult at 12 meters in length and likely weighed more than 10 tons. They are now joined by over 100 Chinese Tyrannosauroid specimens tracing 400 million years of predatory evolution.“Global logistics connects cultures, science, and people – sometimes even across millions of years,” Lufthansa Cargo emphasized.
