Trix the T.rex flies to the Netherlands with KLM

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Naturalis palaeontologist, Anne Schulp discussing Trix at a press conference at Chicago O'Hare


KLM welcomed a very special guest onboard flight 612 from Chicago to Amsterdam when it transported the 66 million year old fossil of a Tyrannosaurus rex.

Trix, as the remarkably well preserved remains of the T. rex has been named, will be displayed at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, the Netherlands. The skeleton, which measures 12.5 metres from nose to tail and stands four metres high was flown on KLM flight 612 from Chicago O’Hare International Airport to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

KLM Cargo executive vice president, Marcel de Nooijer says: “Air France KLM flies almost 90 million passengers and transports 1.2 million tons of cargo a year. It is a big honour for us to be part of this T. rex experience, and give our passengers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fly with a T. rex.”

“We have transported Trix from Hill City, S.D., via truck to Chicago, and will use the utmost care in flying her to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.”

Trix the T. rex was excavated in Montana in 2013 by the Dutch museum, Naturalis Biodiversity Center in cooperation with the Black Hills Institute of Hill City, South Dakota. It is one of the best preserved skeletons in the world and Naturalis will be the first museum outside of North America to exhibit a T. rex.