Last week, international horse transporter, Equitrans Logistics coordinated an equine flight into Rome’s Fiumicino International Airport ‘Leonardo da Vinci,’ the first horse shipment to land at the airport since 1996.

Tasked with transporting two Middle East endurance teams for the World Endurance Championships in Pisa last week, Equitrans chose Rome Fiumicino airport as the as the alternate to Milan’s Malpensa.

“Malpensa animal-station has been closed for extensive renovation work,” says Equitrans Managing Director, David Robson, “so we had to jump through quite a few hoops to get the approvals required to land and handle horses into Rome, Italy.”

Travelling on a chartered B777 freighter, the horses encountered an uneventful trip from the UAE to Rome in approximately 6 hours and 30 minutes. “On landing in Fiumicino International, the ground crew were exceptional. Although this was clearly not a normal flight for the Fiumicino International ground-crew, the service was seamless and the horses handled with the extreme care and a speedy 90-minute clearance- all so essential when moving competition horses prepared to race in a high calibre event such as the 2021 World endurance Championships.”