Forget "Snakes on a Plane" -- how about pandas?

(FedEx)

Freight giant FedEx has announced that it will fly two giant pandas from the United States to China next week, aboard a special "Panda Express" flight.

The flight will leave Washington Dulles International on February 4, bound for Chengdu, China, a 14.5 hour journey. On board will be Tai Shan and Mei Lan, two of the less than 2,000 giant pandas believed to be left in the world.

Fedex will transport the pandas in special containers on board a Boeing 777F aircraft, which is also to carry animal care experts from the National Zoo Washington and Zoo Atlanta, the current homes of the bears.

They are being delivered to the China Conservation and Research Center's Wolong Nature Reserve in Sichuan and the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

Panda fans can follow the progress of the transportation at news.fedex.com/pandas, as the departure and arrival events will be closed to the general public.

Air transport is regularly used to carry unusual or time-sensitive cargo. In 1974, FedEx carried a 13-foot tiger shark used in filming the movie Jaws, whilst competitor UPS famously transported Free Willy star Keiko the whale onboard a Hercules C-130 transport aircraft in 1996.

Website: http://news.fedex.com/pandas