Edinburgh Zoo recently said goodbye to two giant pandas  – Yang Guang and Tian Tian - who had made Edinburgh their home for the last 12 years. The giant pandas arrived in Edinburgh in December 2011 as part of a ten-year agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association, that was later extended by two years.

Menzies Edinburgh was delighted to be awarded the opportunity to look after this very special cargo and handle the panda’s flight leaving Edinburgh.

The pandas arrived in specially built travel crates and the Edinburgh team loaded them, and some snacks, onboard the China Southern Cargo aircraft for the flight back to China. They were accompanied by a senior keeper from Edinburgh Zoo and a vet. They arrived in Chengdu safe and sound the next day and are now in a quarantine period.

John Hardie, Operations & Service Delivery Manager at Edinburgh, said, “This was an exciting opportunity we couldn’t pass up and was a worthwhile endeavour in every aspect. On the day, the team did a fantastic job – especially with the gathered media in attendance. Overall, it was a very positive operation.”

Well done to all the Edinburgh team involved: Colin Reid, Safety & Security Manager; Daniel Hepburn, Loader Driver; Craig Cunningham, Loader and headset operator; Declan Dufficy, Lead Agent (co-ordinating the turnaround); Philip Murphy, Driver; Aaron McKay, Driver; Chloe Allison, Ground Crew; John Hardie, Flight Co-ordinator for Menzies Aviation; and Alex Mills, Flight Co-ordinator for Menzies Aviation.