When kings fly, they expect to go first class. So when American Airlines Cargo recently shipped the personal effects of a renowned—and long dead—monarch, the airline gave every item in the consignment the royal treatment.

The Dallas-based airline delivered more than 130 ancient Egyptian artifacts from the tomb of King Tutankhamun and other archaeological sites to the Dallas Museum of Art for the exhibit "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs." The relics, which date back more than 3,500 years, include 50 burial objects from the teenaged ruler's tomb, including his gold crown and a jewel-encrusted gold box that contained his mummified internal organs. Handling the priceless objects—some of them weighing 1,750 pounds—required extreme precision and attention to detail, both in flight and on the ground, said AA Cargo President David Brooks.