A friend who is returning to India via Frankfurt has a problem with recommendations from Lufthansa and the TSA on the size of the case in which he is taking a rifle back. Lufthansa have been insisting on a smaller size of case and while my suspicion is that this is because they would like to charge excess baggage on his rifle, are there ay recommendations from any of the regular travellers on what he should do?

Also, would he have a problem at Frankfurt? Though the baggage would be booked through to India, my wife has been stopped at Frankfurt for carrying a pair of nail clippers in her handbag int he past and I hope the airport officials there would not cause any additional problems for my friend.

Any advice and hints would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance and good hunting!

I would think that if the baggage, including guns, has been checked all the way through, that he should have no problem in Frankfurt, as he won't have to collect the guns and re-check them.

Frankfurt is not unknown for creating problems for sportsmen travelling with firearms. By far the most of the reports relate to the bureaucratic hassle you have to go through when checking in with your gun, though. I have passed through FF countless times on the way somewhere else - with guns - and never had a problem. I'd have to say, as airports go in Eurpe, in general FF is not bad for the travelling sportsman.

The issue with the nail clipper you could encounter in any airport. It will come down to the fact that some (minor) official has to make a decision to allow or disallow whatever item is contended. Sometimes you'll run into security officers who may let you pass, and sometimes not. I remember getting pretty upset when they threw a nail clipper set (gift from a girlfriend) of mine in a bin in Malaga in Spain. In the end, it is probably best to be philosophical about these things.

Most airlines will specify the max size of luggage which can be checked without excess fees. The sizes may vary from airline to airline. Lufthansa has been known to charge for firearms if they are in excess of the max luggage allowance. There have even been rumours about fees for checking firearms altogether, but I don't know the lowdown of this. The last time I flew LH with firearms, I was not charged any additional fees.

- mike

That's odd. Despite Germany’s strict gun laws, Lufthansa is not unaccustomed to dealing with firearms in Frankfurt. While I checked my firearms all the way through to Windhoek and back, I still stood in line with dozens of hunters with all shapes and sizes of gun cases in the Frankfurt airport. The Germans are certainly an efficient and by the book bunch, but I found Lufthansa very pleasing and accommodating to deal with.

Jorge400: I had mine this year checked all of the way through to Windhoek and did not have to worry about it. We spent the day in Frankfurt with just our carry ons. On the way back, however, the idiots at Air Namibia would only check our luggage through to Frankfurt, which required us to obtain the direct assistance of a Delta representative to come over to German customs and tag my rifle case which was then subesequently put on the Delta Flight by the german customs officials. I did not have to stand in a line or do anything else. In fact, when I arrived at the baggage claims area I sought out a German Customs Official to assist me with the firearms. They were helpful and courteous, but didn't quite know what to do until they contacted the Delta desk, as they were our connecting flight to the U.S. Could you please explain your situation to us so we might be prepared in the future in traveling through Frankfurt? Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
Jorge400: I had mine this year checked all of the way through to Windhoek and did not have to worry about it. We spent the day in Frankfurt with just our carry ons. On the way back, however, the idiots at Air Namibia would only check our luggage through to Frankfurt, which required us to obtain the direct assistance of a Delta representative to come over to German customs and tag my rifle case which was then subesequently put on the Delta Flight by the german customs officials. I did not have to stand in a line or do anything else. In fact, when I arrived at the baggage claims area I sought out a German Customs Official to assist me with the firearms. They were helpful and courteous, but didn't quite know what to do until they contacted the Delta desk, as they were our connecting flight to the U.S. Could you please explain your situation to us so we might be prepared in the future in traveling through Frankfurt? Thanks.

Maybe my post was confusing. I had no problems with my firearms as I checked them all the way through to Windhoek on the leg over and all the way through to the states from Windhoek home.

The line I was referring to was the check in line in Frankfurt on the way to Windhoek. My point was that dozens of passengers departing Frankfurt to Windhoek had firearms and I observed no problems with passengers checking their firearms.

Yes the check in lines in Frankfurt were out of control for us too. I especially didn't think that it was necessary on the way back to the states in Frankfurt to have to go through TWO SEPARATE metal detectors, including one RIGHT before you boarded, and both times a complete pat down for ALL passengers. But understandably airline safety is airline safety for all of us.

Many things depend by the company, I had problem this year at Malpensa Airport, where two SEA (the airport managinging company) hostesses asked to us to pay the extra weight of the guns. at the beginning they asked 50€xkg. They decided, despite the rules written on Internet, that we have to pay for 10kg that were 500€. After a lot of time we decided to accept the offer to pay only for 5KG that were 250€. After 2 days we received a SMS by our travel Agency who had spoken with Air Namibia. They told us that we must be refund of 230€ because we have had to pay only 20€.

In Frankfurt the only problem we had had been the declaration of gun transport for Alitalia company. If we had knew I was there with the already compiled form, instead wait the Alitalia Responsible for Frankfurt Airport. Never had a problem there.