Flying horses spotted at Budapest Airport

According to Budapest Airport, fourteen racehorses bred in Hungary were flown to China las week, on board Cargolux’s Boeing 747. The Friesian and Shagya Arabian horses, trained specifically for combined driving, took off from Budapest Airport in special freight containers, accompanied by a team of carers and vets, on their way to their new Chinese owner, via Luxembourg.

More than a dozen Hungarian racehorses were waiting for boarding in a ground handler’s air cargo warehouse at Budapest Airport, in special freight containers, prepared with great care for the long journey to Beijing and then to Wuhan. They were placed in the cargo hold of Cargolux’s modern Boeing 747-8F (the F stands for freighter, i.e. a cargo aircraft); animals of this size can only be transported by air over such long distances, and only on board large aircraft types. From the Hungarian capital, they first made their way to Luxembourg, Cargolux’s home base, where they were prepared for the 12-hour flight to Beijing at the airline’s live animal station.

According to Hungarian equestrian website lovasok.hu, since the 2008 Olympics and the economic upturn, horseback riding has become increasingly popular in China, with more than half a million Chinese riding on a regular basis per year. Demand for sport and breading horses and, accordingly, the market for importing horses are growing dynamically as well. Hungary is now able to appear on this market, after it received the permit required for the aerial transportation of horses, at the beginning of last year. Since then, this was the first live horse shipment from Budapest Airport to China.

Cargolux flies to Budapest three times a week. Chris Nielen, VP Sales for Cargolux, commented: “The transport of animals is an important part of our core activities. We have an unparalleled expertise and a team of highly qualified professionals to ensure the welfare of the horses. We invested in new horse stalls that guarantee the wellbeing of the animals and a state of the art of transport.”