The 14 circus dogs and 13 cats were transported on ABC flight number RU491 from Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport to Narita. They will be performing for audiences in Japan until September.

In accordance with IATA’s strict Live Animals Regulations, all the animals were transported in special containers that were secured onto the temperature-controlled maindeck floor of the AirBridgeCargo Boeing 747 freighter. To monitor the animal’s wellbeing throughout their journey, they were accompanied by two trainers from the Nikulin Circus.

The flight was performed on-time and all the ‘passengers’ arrived safely at Narita Airport.

The Moscow Circus onTsvetnoi Boulevardwas the onlycircusinMoscowbetween 1926 and 1971 and still remains the most popular one. The circus building was opened on 20 October 1880 as the Solomonsky Circus. Known by a variety of names during the Soviet period, the troupe was awarded theOrder of Leninin 1939. Among the famous performers who worked there were the clownsKarandash,Oleg Popov, andYury Nikulin, who managed the company for fifteen years and whose name it has borne since his death in 1997.