A Saudi Prince bought 80 airline seats with Qatar Airways to fly his own collection of falcons with him on his travels. And why not?
Because as they say… Birds of a feather – Stick together.
But birds inside a big bird… Actually flying?
This photo showing a flock of blindfolded falcons seated on a passenger jet originally posted on Reddit has gone viral today.
“My captain friend sent me this photo,” user lensoo wrote in the post. “Saudi prince bought ticket [sic] for his 80 hawks.”
As you’ll see in the video below, the 80 falcons got to rest easy in the centre row whilst other passengers sat on the outside rows.
Presumably with noise cancelling headphones and nose pins on, though the birds do look relaxed and all seem to be wearing their amenity kit eye masks.
Whilst it may seem rather peculiar to us in the West, Falconry has been practiced in the Middle East for centuries.
Bedouin tribes traditionally used the birds to hunt in the desert, to supplement their diet with meat.
Today falconry is still a rite of passage for young Emirati men with groups of friends regularly meeting in the evenings to train their birds.
It’s also completely acceptable on all Middle Eastern airlines with most having a policy on flying with your own falcon. Though usually only one bird is included on your ticket.
Here’s what the airlines say.
Qatar Airways
Passengers taking Falcons on-board Qatar is commonplace
“You are permitted to carry one falcon on board the Economy Class passenger cabin of an aircraft, and a maximum of six falcons are permitted within the Economy Class cabin of an aircraft (country regulations may apply).”
TClearly there was some special treatment going on here. 80 birds? Well that’s a rather costly group booking.
Etihad Airways
A passenger with his Falcon featured in Etihad’s Virtual Reality video
Watch the Falcon star in the award winning Etihad Airways ‘Reimagine’ Virtual Reality video with Nicole Kidman.
“We accept the carriage of falcons in the main aircraft cabin provided that all the necessary documents have been obtained. We also accept falcons as checked baggage. Each bird can also bring one dead animal on the plane as ‘KarryOn’ as they are allowed one carrion each.”
Word on the street is the most popular inflight movie on this flight was Angry Birds though apparently Rio came in a close second.
