Passengers on a Russian airliner were surprised when the cabin started to fill with bees. The bees had been brought onto the aircraft in two cardboard boxes and it is thought that they became distressed by the pressure in the cabin. The Yakutia Airlines flight was on its way from Blagoveshchensk to Moscow when the bees escaped.

Cabin crew eventually managed to seal the swarm in a wardrobe in business class and seal the door with sticky tape. According to the airline, the trafficker appeared slightly drunk and claimed that the bee hives had been given to him at Blagoveshchensk by an airport official.

The official apparently told the man that someone would meet him when the plane arrived in Moscow. According to Blagoveshchensk baggage handlers, senior airport officials are allowed to carry pretty much anything they liked onto aircraft. The issue has raised concerns about safety standards on domestic flights in Russia and also over the impunity of officials working at airports.

When the Yakutia Airline Boeing 757 reached Barcelona, the next destination on its itinerary, five bees were discovered alive. The airline could now face a bill of around £100,000 to pay for the aircraft to be properly fumigated and to compensate passengers for the delays caused.

According to reports, the Zapashny brothers, a circus act famous in Russia, has asked whether it is permissible to take a white tiger cub onto a plane and keep it in the cabin. Although the airport authorities are still to make a decision, the request has not been denied.