Butterstick may be leaving us in less than a week, but at least he’ll be doing it in style.

The National Zoo’s most famous panda will be loaded up into a crate early next Thursday morning, driven to Dulles International Airport, and then board a FedEx airplane for a non-stop flight to China.

It may not sound like the most luxurious way to travel, but FedEx vice president of operations John Dunavant reassured reporters this week that Tai Shan will be treated exceedingly well. So well, in fact, that he and Zoo Atlanta’s Mei Lan are getting their very own plane.

“We’re going to call this aircraft the FedEx Panda Express,” said Dunavant at a press event on Thursday.

The plane, a large FedEx 777F air freighter, will be mostly empty, save a small staff, including a veterinarian and Tai’s keeper from the National Zoo. It also bears a specialized panda logo, so no one will be able to mistake what’s inside.

The trip will take over 14 hours. Once the pandas arrive in China, they’ll still have to be driven another couple hours to Wolong’s Bifengxia Panda Base in Ya’an, Sichuan.

In the meantime, don’t forget about Tai Shan’s going away party this weekend. Hopefully the weather will hold out long enough for us all to be able to say goodbye.