If you are holding a ticket to Zimbabwe that calls for a connection, or stopover, in The Netherlands, better get hold of your ticket agent. Seems the government of The Netherlands has begun to enforce that ban on the flow of small arms to Zimbabwe that we told you about several months ago. What's happened is, a client of Barbara Wolbrink of International Journeys (800-203-0951) has just learned that a Zimbabwe-bound air-ticket client has been denied permission to transit the Netherlands with a firearm. The enforcement action today (September 22, 2006) almost surely indicates that other such actions will follow.


The ban at issue is identical to the one that has been in place for several years in England. Its stated purpose is to prevent the flow of munitions of war to the Mugabe regime. Unfortunately, it has the side effect of preventing hunters from transiting England - and now The Netherlands - with hunting firearms. The solution to the problem remains the same as it was in the past: Namely you should find another transit city on your way to Zimbabwe, or you should buy a separate ticket to a stopover city such as Johannesburg, then another ticket from Johannesburg on to Harare. Do not show anyone involved in your transit of The Netherlands (or England) a copy of your onward ticket.

As we've noted before, connecting through Johannesburg this way creates complications, such as the need to clear your gun in South Africa and perhaps overnight there. Be aware of that and do the necessary planning. Good luck! - Don Causey, Editor/Publisher.

So now the available routes will be:

JFK to JoBerg to Zim
Dulles to JoBerg to Zim
Atlanta to JoBerg to Zim (beginning Dec 4 I believe)
Frankfurt to JoBerg to Zim

and if you are really, really brave, then
London to JoBerg

What about the Dubai to Joberg to Zim route? Can foreigners transit through Dubai with guns and ammo on their way to JoBerg then Zim?

500grains

What about the Dubai to Joberg to Zim route? Can foreigners transit through Dubai with guns and ammo on their way to JoBerg then Zim?
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You DONT need to fly via JIA to Harare on Emirates ...

Emirates and Air Zims airlines either cross ticket and/or fly individially on the route from Dubai DIRECT to Harare

Cheers, Peter

The ban on taking arms into Zim was decided upon at EU level several years ago, but originally it was only the UK Government who actually implimented to the full, ie to include sporting firearms.

If The Netherlands are following suit it could indicate that other European countries will follow suite and enforce the ban as per the letter of the original agreement.

Breaking the journey in RSA to get around the ban is perhaps not the best course of action..

I know that if a UK national is caught doing this, they can face prosecution when they return home.

Although breaking your journey in RSA used to be relatively easy to do, with the tightening up of their firearm import laws, getting around the ban in this way is now no longer so straight forward.

quote:

Originally posted by Balla Balla:
500grains

What about the Dubai to Joberg to Zim route? Can foreigners transit through Dubai with guns and ammo on their way to JoBerg then Zim?
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You DONT need to fly via JIA to Harare on Emirates ...

Emirates and Air Zims airlines either cross ticket and/or fly individially on the route from Dubai DIRECT to Harare

Cheers, Peter

That is certainly more convenient.