If I flew through Dubai then on to Jo-Berg on Emirates from JFK or Houston would that be a plan or would the guns be a problem? I need to find a comfortable route to Zim this year and SAA just isnt it.

I know that Emirates is a GREAT carrier but the routes might not be efficant and perhaps the guns might be a problem. Any Ideas you have would be greatly appericated. Thanks in advance, mom said hello as well. She is so cute and awalys asks how you are when ever we talk about hunting.

Eric,

The best people to ask are your travel agent, and let them talk to Emirates about your planned route.

Any time we ask that question here they tell us to "contact the Emirates representative in the country where the passenger wishes to board!"

My travel agent is clueless. I was on the Emirates website and the route seemed ok but I wasnt sure about the guns in Dubai. That was my main concern I didnt know if it was cool to carry them in transit or if there would be hasseles.

Eric,
Someone was telling me that it is a hassle with guns or even not allowed for this year, but that was being corrected for 2005..It may have been Judge G...or Saeed????

That was my understanding too.

Folks:

Here is what I've found out in my humble and ineffective way:

1. Emirates Airlines offers some of the best service, food and comfort of all airlines (at least in Business and 1st). I've not had the opportunity to discuss "tourist" with anyone, but it can only be better than SAA!

2. Like J'burg, at present, the airport at Dubai has no "pre-customs" firarms impoundment facility for transient flyers. One would now have to "import" a firearm for an r.o.n., just like in RSA (which is a royal pain in the buttocks.)

3. Dubai has some of the best "night life" on the planet, being a mix of the best of Vegas and DisneyWorld. It also has some of the best shopping anywhere for the ladies.

4. If you go to Africa every year, like many of us, a change from the ordinary would be fun.

5. As I read the schedules, most flights from New York land in Dubai shortly before midnight and leave soutbound for J'burg or Dar late the next morning.

6. While arriving in Dubai at midnight, sleeping 8 hours somewhere and getting to the airport by 10:00 a.m. is fine for those in a hurry, I feel, in a perfect world, Emirates and a partner hotel would offer a deeply discounted fare/room whereby a traveler would arrive in U.A.E., have a full day/night to experience Las Vegas/Middle East version, get a good, jetlag defeating sleep, and be on the way to a safari the next morning. Only problem would be where the firearms would be stored. Alas!

7. The bottom line is the buck. Emirates doesn't survive because it does Safari Hunters free favors. They have a bottom line to figure. Is there a cost effective fix, and will the demand be sufficent to pay for it?

8. My suggestion:
Upon arrival in U.A.E., it would seem to be a simple fix to have a secure room in which gun cases would be stored, before customs clearance, ready to be called for after passing through security/customs outbound, then just put on the plane. Upon arrival in U.A.E., the police, customs or the airline could just give you a receipt, put a seal on the rifle case to assure that entry therein wasn't made, put the rifle in the "gun room" and off you go for fun and relaxation. Get back to the airport, the case is retrieved and placed upon the plane with appropriate baggage tags. I can't see how that would cost much at all. You'd just need some seriously honest folks dealing with the firearms, I guess... but what the hey? Baggage handlers tote tens of thousands of dollars of stuff every day.

8. I'm working through several avenues to try to get Emirates to understand that there is a goodly number of folks who would like to use an alternative to SAA. I see no reason why a few dozen more folks so trying would gum up my efforts. www.emirates.com is the website. I don't have an e-mail, but mailing addresses are available there. Have at it. Money talks and b.s. walks.

JudgeG,

I think your plan would be very workable.

"Upon arrival in U.A.E., it would seem to be a simple fix to have a secure room in which gun cases would be stored, before customs clearance, ready to be called for after passing through security/customs outbound, then just put on the plane."

I believe most (all?) airports have a customs bonded warehouse where things are stored until a) they are received in country, or b) they are shipped on. Perhaps looking at rifle cases as freight rather than as passenger baggage might bring this up as a possibility.



Scott