Does this photo show Panda Bear on a plane flight? Fact check

An image (above) apparently showing a Giant Panda sat on a domestic plane flight is spreading across the Internet.

While many variants simply (and vaguely) claim this is a Panda being flown to the United States from China, others come attached to an apparent press release from China Airlines that reads –

China Airlines is a proud corporate sponsor of the panda sanctuary at Cheng Du and was happy to help out recently with the transfer of a young panda cub to a zoo in the United States of America.
After extensive consultation with the Sanctury’s veterinary staff it was concluded that the importance of the panda cub precluded it from traveling in the hold of the aircraft, where attending to its needs would be difficult. Thus China Airlines agreed to donate seats in its Business Traveler First cabin for the panda cub named Squee Squee and his carer, Fu Jiang Lang, seen here sitting in the window seat.
In the interests of hygiene Squee Squee wore a plastic nappy to take care of pandapoop during the flight. We are happy to report that Squee Squee arrived rested and relaxed after his 14-hour flight, and is settling into his new home well. During the flight we can report that he didn’t watch any of the flight movies as we couldn’t find a headset big enough for him. He did order the bamboo from catering menu, with a side of bamboo, and bamboo mousse for desert.

In 2013 the image was being spread with a different caption…

This is a Real Panda. China has this “Panda Diplomacy” and this one will be sent to Japan as an friendship envoy. For safety reasons, he sits as a passenger with his feeder, not in a cage. Fastening the seat belt, wearing a diaper, eating bamboos.

The image has actually been proliferating online since at least 2011, and even back then many were expressing doubts as to the authenticity of the image. And probably for good reason. The fact alone that an image circulates the “interwebs” with different descriptions and captions attached is usually by itself a good indicator that something isn’t right, but in this instance there are other tell-tale signs.

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For one, the press release above from China Airlines isn’t real and doesn’t appear on their website or any official channels. Additionally the press release refers to the Panda Bear as Squee Squee – however there doesn’t appear to be any Panda by that name (there are not many bears left in captivity and those that are have mostly been named by their keepers.)

But perhaps most tellingly is that that Panda in the photo appears to be some kind of giant plush toy, of which there are many available. The nose of the animal in the photo does not appear to be from a real animal. Panda bears have narrower and more triangular noses while many of the toys available have – like the one in the photo – more rounded noses.

As such, the photo is real but shows a toy Panda. Not a real one.