Hongkong Airlines faces a passenger boycott unless it agrees to stop transporting dolphins on its cargo planes, animal welfare groups warned yesterday.
The airline sparked outrage by flying five live dolphins from Osaka in Japan to the Vietnamese capital Hanoi on January 16.
The creatures are suspected to have originated from Taiji, the area, featured in the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove, where dolphins are rounded up and slaughtered in their thousands every year.
A memo to airline staff said the flight, which included a two-hour refuelling stop in Hong Kong, netted HK$850,000 in cargo revenue and that executives wanted to develop the business.
Since the memo was leaked on Wednesday, more than 2,400 people have signed an online petition protesting against the shipment and Hongkong Airlines' phone lines and website have been jammed with angry calls and messages.
A company spokeswoman said yesterday it was fully 'committed to the protection of animal welfare' and wanted an 'open dialogue' with animal welfare groups.
