While many of us couldn’t even afford to bring the whole family to vacations that require airplane rides (that’s a sad reality in life, actually), there’s a prince in Saudi who has so much money that when he went on a trip, he brought along 80 falcons (yes, birds!) and bought each one a plane ticket so they can have their own seats!
The unnamed Saudi prince rode a plane to some destination not mentioned in the original post which had first gone viral on Reddit. According to the original post, the person who shared the photo, Lensoo, received the snapshot from a friend who was the captain of the flight that the Saudi prince boarded along with his 80 birds.
The post identified the birds as hawks but the internet quickly corrected Lensoo, saying that many rich guys in the Middle East are into falconry; thus, these birds are more likely falcons than hawks.
But whereas many were debating whether these are falcons or hawks, the rest of us are just so amazed that the birds actually behaved during the flight and stayed at their own seats.
Are There Restrictions to Bringing Birds and Pets on Planes?
Most airlines allow passengers to bring some pets and birds on board but there are limits as to how many you can actually take. For example, Qatar Airways only allows a maximum of six falcons on board. However, it seems that there are airlines who don’t mind having a lot of these feathered passengers on board – and the photo proves that, of course.
“Animals are not permitted in the cabin of Emirates flights, with the exception of falcons between Dubai and certain destinations in Pakistan, and Guide Dogs for the Blind,” says Emirates.
“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,” says Etihad Airways.