The real cattle class: Cows on a 747 to China

Sydney

NEXT time you're stuck on a long-haul flight in a packed, economy-class cabin, being ignored by a frazzled flight attendant, spare a thought for the passengers on a recent flight from Melbourne to Chongqing in China. They were cows.

Crated up and loaded onto the main deck of a Boeing Co 747 cargo plane by hydraulic lift, the 150 beasts were on Australia's first live cattle flight to central China. Destination: the abattoir.

The flights are possible, and profitable, beca…