Rock stars of animal world will arrive in lap of luxury

After arriving in a part of the airport normally reserved for the likes of the Pope and the Royal Family, Tian Tian and Yang Guang will also be accompanied into the city by zoo officials and a Chinese animal welfare worker tomorrow.

The pandas will not need to be sedated on the 11-hour journey, but will instead be allowed to remain alert and see their surroundings. It is thought they will be given large amounts of bamboo – as well as apples, carrots, panda cake, and mineral water – to keep them occupied during the journey.

The pandas are due to leave China at 1:40am tomorrow, UK time, on a specially liveried plane chartered by delivery company FedEx and will arrive in Edinburgh around lunchtime.

Throughout the journey on the Panda Express, they will be in the “safe hands” of what delivery company FedEx describes as “seasoned management pilots”, all of whom have extensive experience in transporting exotic animals, from white rhinos to penguins. The plane has also been specially adapted to ensure the pandas get first-class service.

Equipped with noise-reduction technology, Tian Tian and Yang Guang will enjoy a quieter ride, while the fuel efficiency of the aircraft – the newest in FedEx’s fleet – means that the pandas will arrive in Edinburgh in record time, without stopping to refuel.

Specially adapted bullet-proof Perspex containers will be roomy enough to allow the pandas to move around and sleep – as well as keep an eye on what is going on around them.

“We are delighted to announce that the FedEx Panda Express is now ready for departure and will soon be making its momentous journey to the United Kingdom,” said Gerald P Leary, the president of FedEx Express Europe.

“The specially chartered flight, due to leave in the morning of 4 December, follows months of preparation and planning to ensure the pandas’ travel is safe and comfortable at every stage of their journey.”

The zoo’s director of conservation and research, Iain Valentine, and Professor Tang Chunxiang, the chief vet and assistant director at the China Research and Conservation Centre, are to accompany the pandas.

FedEx Express personnel will also be on board to ensure that “proper conditions” are maintained in the aircraft from the moment the plane takes off to when it touches down on Scottish soil.

Head keeper Alison Maclean, who has been in China for the past few weeks, was due to arrive back in Scotland on a separate flight today in preparation for the new arrivals.

Once the plane has landed, the pandas will be met by a welcoming committee, which will mark their arrival with a dram of whisky. The police escort will then ensure the pandas safe passage to their new home.

The pair – the first pandas to live in a British zoo in more than 17 years – will spend two weeks settling in at the zoo and will undergo medical checks before being unveiled to the public on 16 December. The zoo has spent £275,000 building an enclosure for their new exhibits, complete with ten massive bullet-proof plate-glass windows that let the public view the pandas without disturbing them.

It is estimated that the zoo’s current 80,000 visitors a year could double after the arrival of the pair.

Meanwhile, 5,000 miles away in the Chinese town of Ya’an, locals are preparing for the departure.

Banners celebrating the pandas and wishing them well on their journey have been put up all around the town, which is near the animal sanctuary where Tian Tian and Yang Guang have so far spent their lives.

A farewell ceremony is planned at the sanctuary before the pandas are shipped to nearby Chengdu Airport in Sichuan province for their direct flight to Edinburgh.

Engineer Peter Budd, an instrumental member of the Edinburgh Zoo team that negotiated bringing the pandas to the UK, will be at the ceremony in China.

He said: “There are TV crews and media everywhere in Ya’an – it is huge news here.

“It is a big event when one of the pandas are sent to a new home. It is great fun to be here at this time.”

More than 1,000 schoolchildren from the Sichuan Normal University Experimental Foreign Language School have written notes and created drawings for the pandas to take with them to Scotland.

The notes will be carried on board the plane and taken to the zoo with the pair.

Eddy Chan, senior vice president operations for FedEx Express China, added: “We wanted the ‘FedEx Panda Express’ flight carrying Tian Tian and Yang Guang to bring with it all the love China feels for our pandas, and share our happiness that they’ve found a wonderful home in Scotland.”