I'm in the planning stages of a trip for next year, and I've heard the there can be issues traveling through UAE with firearms.

Emirates has a good price for business class and a great reputation. I just don't want to have any problems being this is my first trip to SA. If it matters, I'll be leaving from Los Angeles.

Thank you for your input and help.

Will

Will;

I just flew with Emirates out of LAX and back to Lusaka, Zambia. Kathy Klimes, Wild Travel, she posts a lot here, took care of the paper work for me and it was painless. Basically, they email you a confirmation regarding your firearms and flight. I presented it upon check in at LAX and again upon check in in Lusaka for my return. The Emirates reps were familiar with the form and no big deal. The service I received from Emirates was outstanding.

I highly recommend them! Plus their Biz Class and lounges (especially LAX) are the best!

Best regards, D. Nelson

You should heave no problems. I use travel with guns for my ticket and they take care of all of the paper work. Have traveled through Dubai 5 times with no problems have a great hunt

Will;

If you are staying in South Africa you will have to do the gun permits for them besides the Emirates. The SA permit is a little more complicated and several pages long and should be submitted before arrival. I would definitely use a travel agent that is experienced with traveling with guns.

Best regards, D. Nelson

We returned from Zim yesterday, flew Emirates again and had no problems with our firearms. In fact, if you have a firearm, all of your luggage is segregated from the rest so there is hardly any chance of luggage not arriving when you do. When we left Dubai to DFW, as the young lady scanned my boarding pass her screen popped up a big orange circle with an exclamation mark in it...she said I couldn't board until her supervisor gave the OK, which happened in about 10 seconds, I asked if it was the "special item" in my luggage and she said it was. No worries about it being on the plane. When we were waiting on our luggage at DFW, we were poaged to a service counter where we were given our firearms and ammo containing luggage.
We did our own Emirates firearms permits, really easy to do as everything you need is on their website but pay attention to the time frame in which the permit must be submitted.

I agree with Karl. I have traveled with rifles on Emirates many times and never had any issue with the rifles not arriving at my destination without a hitch. In fact, I believe they are far more conscientious when it comes to handling weapons than either SAA or Delta. That is not to say that there could never be a problem with rifles on Emirates, but I think the odds on Emirates are much lower than the other routinely used African carriers.

We have a different procedure to go through when travelling with firearms from Dubai.

We have to obtain the police permit ourselves, and forward it to Emirates with our travel dates.

I got my Airport Police permit last week, and I emailed it to Emirates after 8 in the evening.

Next morning the Emirates permit was in mail box, less than 12 hours later!!

We flew Emirates with firearms and would say it is not difficult but I do have one warning. This may have been my fault but.....

We used a tuffpak and many times it is not recognized as a firearms case. We also had a three day layover in Dubai in order to see some sights (well worth it and thanks to Saeed for his hospitality as well). My Tuffpak ended up on the luggage carousel and I took possession of it. I knew that should not be happening but I could find no Emirates representative to help.

I took the case myself to the airport police office. I had all my paperwork and they took possession in order to lock up the case. This all took about two hours and I suspect the old english double caused some of the delay as many police officers came to have pictures taken with it.

That said, they were courteous, gave us tea and water, and we just considered it part of a unique experience.

Cheers
Jim

Thank you everyone for the valuable information. As I'm traveling alone I don't want to make any mistakes. Very much appreciated.

Will

May I suggest you book through Kathie, who posts here regularly.

We have had her book many clients, and she always provided exceptional service.

Thanks Saeed.

If you go it alone, this is the link to make your firearms declaration:

https://www.emirates.com/us/en...eclaration-form.aspx

I filled it in this evening for a flight the first week of October. Under firearms license number I put "See 4457" which I then uploaded from my computer along with a scanned copy of my photo page of my passport and Letter of Invitation from my outfitter.

An email came back shortly informing me they had received my request and that I would be notified when my request had been processed. This email also contained a PDF they want you to have a hard copy of when you check in. I hope the second email will be received shortly as they ask you to submit this declaration no less than 3 days from the flight. So I'd presume they can do this quickly. I will post back in this thread when I receive this second email.

quote:

Originally posted by 7MMNut:
If you go it alone, this is the link to make your firearms declaration:

https://www.emirates.com/us/en...eclaration-form.aspx


I filled it in this evening for a flight the first week of October. Under firearms license number I put "See 4457" which I then uploaded from my computer along with a scanned copy of my photo page of my passport and Letter of Invitation from my outfitter.

An email came back shortly informing me they had received my request and that I would be notified when my request had been processed. This email also contained a PDF they want you to have a hard copy of when you check in. I hope the second email will be received shortly as they ask you to submit this declaration no less than 3 days from the flight. So I'd presume they can do this quickly. I will post back in this thread when I receive this second email.

Be interesting to see how prompt they are.

Will

I did the online form exactly one month before departure and I thought the same thing - that I would get the second email a few days after the first email. But I didn't get the second email for 3 weeks - about 5 days before my departure date. I was getting nervous but in the end it all worked.

At DFW they wanted another copy of the 4457 and the invitation letter even though I had uploaded them on the website.

I recommend that everyone prints all documents and carry them along.

Having extra hard copies of all the paperwork never hurts. I also scan and email them to myself as you can then print copies out from just about anywhere.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
I recommend that everyone prints all documents and carry them along.

On my two trips I printed off all documents and put in a 1" 3-ring binder. Easily packable and also a writing surface if need be!

Two weeks plus and no indication from Emirates of my Firearms Declaration being processed. I called Emirates yesterday and the gentleman was sending an email to their 'firearms' people. Still nothing as of today.

Folks,

A couple of points on Emirates that have come to my attention recently. Gracy has sent several people through Dubai on Emirates this season. Out going from the States the problem is that some folks are not getting their gun permits until just before their actually travel days and in fact one guy did not get his until the day before he left. On leaving Africa at least out of Lusaka if you leave early your guns do not leave with you. They need prior authorization from Dubai which evidently is not always quick in coming. On the positive end they seem to have no attitude about hunters and Laura Du Plooy told me on her recent trip on Emirates she was treated exceptionally well.

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by 7MMNut:
Two weeks plus and no indication from Emirates of my Firearms Declaration being processed. I called Emirates yesterday and the gentleman was sending an email to their 'firearms' people. Still nothing as of today.

You should have gotten an email within hours from Emirates saying they have received your permit request (and a couple of forms for you to print), it's up to Emirates Group Security to issue the rifle permit and in my experience, it doesn't happen very quickly. I received mine 4 days before departure although I sent the application 29 days before departure. If I were you, I'd give them a call (I called Emirates in Dubai, the customer service person said they would check and call me back, which he did the next morning), but remember...Friday and Saturday are their weekend. If you are flying thru DFW I would be happy to give you the contact info for their senior agent, very efficient and helpful.

quote:

Originally posted by K Evans:

quote:

Originally posted by 7MMNut:
Two weeks plus and no indication from Emirates of my Firearms Declaration being processed. I called Emirates yesterday and the gentleman was sending an email to their 'firearms' people. Still nothing as of today.

You should have gotten an email within hours from Emirates saying they have received your permit request (and a couple of forms for you to print), it's up to Emirates Group Security to issue the rifle permit and in my experience, it doesn't happen very quickly. I received mine 4 days before departure although I sent the application 29 days before departure. If I were you, I'd give them a call (I called Emirates in Dubai, the customer service person said they would check and call me back, which he did the next morning), but remember...Friday and Saturday are their weekend. If you are flying thru DFW I would be happy to give you the contact info for their senior agent, very efficient and helpful.

I received the first email virtually immediately after submitting the declaration.

The good news this morning is I got the second email approving my bringing firearms on the flight. Not sure if my phone call on Monday helped this along or not, but I'm good to go now.

So for details I submitted the declaration online on the evening of September 12th and again got the approval email this morning. So roughly about 15 1/2 days later and 9 days before departure.

Just returned this past week from my trip. Itinerary was:

Phoenix to Seattle on Alaska Air
Seattle to Dubai, Dubai to Joburg on Emirates.

Virtually no issues at all. One potential hiccup was on return in Seattle. Emirates does not have a baggage agreement with Alaska when firearms are involved. We had to recheck the rifle and ammo cases with Alaska. We made it to the Alaska Air gate about 20 mins before boarding started, so we were good. But a slightly late flight or long lines at either check-in or security, we may have missed last flight home to Phoenix.

The itinerary had a 3 hour layover in Seattle on return. So we used about 2 hours 40 mins in getting off plane, thru immigration/customs and then the re-check in process with Alaska.

on the Emirates form do they accept the 4457 as the firearms license number?

quote:

Originally posted by drongo:
on the Emirates form do they accept the 4457 as the firearms license number?

Yes

Is it feasible to fly from Los Angeles to Harare on this airline?

I believe so.

quote:

Originally posted by GunsCore:
Is it feasible to fly from Los Angeles to Harare on this airline?

Definitely! The flight goes via Lusaka, short stop there.

Best regards, D. Nelson