DMV Flights

On Wednesday November 8th the last three giant pandas will leave the Smithsonian facility. The three pandas are Mei Xiang, Tian Tian, and Xiao Qi Ji. The pandas are owned by the Chinese government, and the lease for the pandas ends December 7. Flying these animals is not an easy task. Before putting them on the plane they have to be put in three separate cages and have to have the care they need to survive the long journey. The FedEx 777 will transport them to Chengdu, China. Also the FedEx 777 will put a panda sticker on their aircraft like the picture above from 2017. FedEx used to take the route over the Atlantic to Chengdu from Washington Dulles. Due to no American carriers able to fly into Russian airspace, the pandas will have to fly the Pacific route which will be a 19 hour flight. The time for the departure is currently unknown but will be released soon.