From the Daily Mail:
An entire Boeing 747 has been hired at £330,000 per trip to fly pigs in more comfort on the 5,500-mile journey than humans often have in economy class.
It is an extraordinary turn of events for a country of 1.3 billion once known for eating everything and anything.
Thanks to decades of sophisticated breeding programmes, an average British-bred sow gives birth to 22 piglets a year, compared with 14 for a Chinese one.
The initial price for a breeding sow in Britain is between £400 and £500, but with transportation the cost of exporting one rises to £2,000.
A total of 1,239 pigs left the UK before the summer and a further 900 are flying out this month.
By the end of the year, about 4,500 pigs from farms across Britain, from Oxfordshire to Cheshire and Scotland, will be living in China after a new livestock trade agreement.Before the flight, the pigs are loaded on to the aircraft in slatted pallets in groups of 15 to 20. Each pig, which weighs an average 11st, can then relax in an area measuring 3.5ft by 3.5ft where they can stretch out, roll, stand or lie during the 111⁄2 hours in the air.
In contrast, an economy-class human traveller is typically confined to a seat 18in wide with no more than 32in legroom. The pigs can help themselves to food and water throughout the trip.
