April 08, 2024

Live Horses Transported to Melbourne

With the cooperation of other airline, 2 breeding
mares were transported to Melbourne, Australia

Australia's horse racing/breeding market scale is very large, and live horses are frequently transported internationally. However, there are no scheduled freighter flights between Japan & Australia to transport live horses, so it is common to deliver them via other countries. In this case, the horses were transported from Narita to Hong Kong on ANA's freighter, and requested the remaining transport for the Hong Kong - Melbourne sector to another airline.

For live horses' transport, there are quite a few documents & applications to be submitted to each of the concerned country's authorities, so that not a single mistake is allowed. This time, since ANA & the other airline were required to comply with each other's transport regulations, prior check was repeatedly conducted to be well prepared, while the operations on the day of the flight were successfully accomplished.

Point ①
For the loading onto the aircraft, ANA's dedicated equipment for horses, "horse stall", was used. Due to live horses being sensitive to sound, an isolated space dedicated for handling at the Narita warehouse was secured, where the acceptance & loading into the "stall" was conducted. When transferring at the transit point, Hong Kong, considering the live horses' physical conditions to the possible extent, the handling was intentionally proceeded at a slow pace.

Point ②
At the connecting point, Hong Kong, thorough coordination with the relevant companies was conducted, preparing for the safe transport. To secure sufficient connecting time at the stopover point, the following adjustments were made:
・Changed the Narita - Hong Kong flight's departure time
・Arranged the parking spots of arrival and connecting flights at Hong Kong to be close to each other
・Assigned the position of the stalls to be loaded near to the door side in the aircraft

ANA provides service, "PRIO LIVE ANIMALS", for the valued customers' precious animals, from large ones to small pets, to safely transport to their destinations.

For details of "PRIO LIVE ANIMALS", click here: PRIO LIVE ANIMALS

Customer and Staff Voice

Takumi Iinuma
Alliances, Global Network

While meeting the requirements to maintain high-quality & safety, every effort on the coordination with the other airline was made to ensure smooth connection
in Hong Kong.
In carrying out cooperative transport, repeated discussions with the department in charge of the operations was held, establishing a transport plan which enabled the horses to be safely transported to their destination.

Eric Chow
Hong Kong Airport

Close & sufficient communication among all the concerned
parties, internally & externally,
was maintained, while focusing on the immigration documents & applications to be well prepared with no mistakes or omissions. As there was a transfer to another airline this time, to minimize the burden & stress of the horses, everything was done to shorten the transport distance to the maximum extent possible.