Anyone use BA from the states? In 2005 - on the advice of my travel agent - I flew BA from Baltimore to Joberg via London. Saved a couple hundred bucks and avoided the looooong non-stop flight from Atlanta. Aside from ten hours wasted wandering around Heathrow between flights it wasn't a bad experience. Except that is...

One rifle and one shotgun in one case, The other rifle in another case (two hunters - my wife and I). Both rifles are Mausers and her's is .308. That's where the trouble began. At check-in BA personnel told me Mausers and any .308 are "WEAPONS OF WAR" and thus not allowed in the UK. After lots of talking to non-gun savy staff and umpteen forms filled out I was finally assured all was well, and this in spite of having filed the proper forms describing the firearms months in advance.When we got our guns in SA one case had the latches cut off and taped shut - not merely the locks but THE LATCHES! Luckily it was the case with the .308 or they'd have likely cut the other one open as well. Everything was OK but I had to do some fancy packing to get all three guns in the same case for the return trip! Curious if anyone else has had similar problems with BA?

I prefer flying BA. Seattle to London, London to Africa. I use the layover to go to town and visit H&H, Evans and such.

I have never had a problem with firearms as they are checked through. If I choose to stay over a few days they are put in a Custom Bond and, aside from about an hour of papaerwork and walking around with a BA Rep, on my flight out.

Sorry about your problems. Did you get a BA Rep to help sort them out?

BA can be a pain in the ass where firearms are concerned and its mostly through ignorance and/or anti hunting sentiment of the check in staff.

The weapons of war thing comes from the fact that the airline is bound by the Air Navigation Order / Carriage of dangerous goods act. Part of which states that all firearms fall into one of two catagories. One is sporting firearms which they are allowed to carry. You need to have the term sporting firearms entered into your booking and you need to get a hard copy of the booking with that comment entered in the comments section of the booking. Incidentally, they also require at least 3 days notice of your travelling with a firearm.

All other firearms fall into the catagory of weapons of war, which they ar not permitted to carry under the act. - which is why it's vital you get the correct term entered into your booking when you first make the reservation with your travel agent.

Sorry to hear they damaged your rifle case.... I hope they replaced it with a new one.

Another thing travellers need to bear in mind when transitting the UK is that some US flights come into Gatwick Airport and some African flights go out of Heathrow. If this is the case, the hunter needs to use a firearms courier for the transfer between airports. We usually recommend Ron Wharton who can be contacted at wharton@bunduki.co.uk

Another thing to note about BA & firearms is that it's not uncommon for dopey check in agents to enter the baggage tag number of the firearm into the comments section of the booking instead of the baggage tag number section by mistake. If they do this, the security system won't allow the firearm to be loaded. They need to enter the bag tag number in the bag tag section and the sporting firearm comment in the comment section...... so don't move from the check in desk until you're absolutely certain they've done it correctly.....

Unfortunately the case was a loss. As we were eager to get on the road and nearly missed our host due to arriving at a different gate (lucky I had his cell number!), I didn't file a damage claim before leaving JIA. As a result BA turned a deaf ear when I contacted them on returning home... and of course since I had no use for an un-lockable case, I didn't bring it home and had no evidence. To top it off, our return flight was struck by lightening while still within sight of Heathrow, yet flew on. My poor wife was expecting us to fall from the sky at any moment, all the way home!
Just seemed the staff were not as "firearms friendly" as SAA. I wondered if anyone else has expereienced this or if it was just a fluke.

Most Brits esp airline staff are either very ignorant of anything firearm or hunting related or just plain anti hunting....... I'm a Brit myself (although an ex pat one) but I'm ashamed to say that in most parts of the UK it would be safer to admit to being a sex offender than being a hunter.

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oupa,

I've flown BA from London to RSA with firearms with no problems at all..Many complaints I've heard seem to be about BA North America so to speak or who ever BA sub contracts the work to over there.

As Shakari says BA are not permitted to carry any "Weapons of War" nor are they permitted to carry *any* type of firearms (sporting or otherwise) to Zim...This is the same with any British Airline...

Again follow the advise of Shakari and ensure that the fact that Sport firarms are being carried goes on the booking..Once that is done, get written confirmation from your travel agent, or better yet, get them to get a confirmation email/fax from BA that they have accepted the booking including the firearms..Also when dealing with people, get full names and contact numbers to their desk if possible..

You must then reconfirm with BA that you are carrying sporting firarms 3 or 4 days before you travel...again this is best done with telephone call followed by a confirmation email or fax so you can prove that you've complied.

Take this paperwork to the airport with you when you fly..It also helps to print a copy of the airline rules with regarding firearms from the website...In this day and age I would do all this regardless of the airline I was using...

Another tip is to get "international roaming" on your cell phone and ensure the telephone number is on all your luggage labels, both on the outside of the case and stuck on the nside of the case too...

JJHack, a PH who post here from time to time, is a big fan of guncases that use small padlocks to secure them, rather than built in locks and latches, so that if the security people need to get into the case, they can simply cut a couple of $3 padlocks and not ruin the whole case...he then puts a couple of (open) spare locks in the case in an envelope with instructions asking security to use them if they've needed to cut the originals..Carrying a few cable ties might also be a good idea to cope with emergencies like these...

Regards,

Pete

Thanks much for all the advice, maybe it will help some other poor sole in the future. However I did follow all the rules as far as advance notice, confirmation, carrying copies of everything and re-contacting BA three days prior. The suggestion about putting the celly number on the luggage is a good one though! Another suggestion that rings true is that I to believe the damage actually happened here in the states before we ever left - which is kind of scary to think an UN-LOCKED gun case traveled half-way around the world. The case was secured with two padlocks that could have easily been cut, but they choose to cut the eyelets the locks attach to... although they did affix the now useless locks to the handle with flex-ties! Not really sure what THAT was about. Sounds like it wasn't standard operating proceedures from the responses here. Guess I just got lucky eh? Stands to reason, it was a pretty wierd trip all together.

Oupa,

I wonder who actually daamged the case like that? Was it somebody working for BA or the TSA?

You would think that who ever it was, if they were acting inan official capacity, they should have at least included a letter of explanation..

In fact once the case has gone through check-in ect, I'm not sure the airline have any right to open it with out TSA approval???

On a point of principle I would have done my damnest to claim against BA for the damage to the case...With a lot of big company's, its only when something starts costing them money do they take any notice...

Regards,

Pete

oupa

Sorry you had a problem but in my experience that is not normal with BA. I personally have found them to be pretty competent and their service to be excellent. I personally will always try to fly with them to Africa if possible. On our last trip they had a person that actually saw that the guns got put on the plane coming and going which made me more comfortable. Also in theory this procedure should assure the arrival of your guns.

I have never noted any anti gun/hunting sentiment from BA staff or English customs. I have had a little hassle with ignorant counter people but once we were all on the same page they were more than helpful.

Unless it is a lot cheaper to fly on the very uncomfortable South Arican Airbus I see no reason to put yourself through that torture when you can fly in comfort through London.

As Shakari stated you do need to call BA and declare your intent to take firearms in your luggage before your flight. Also if you are changing airports with guns in England you will need a gun courier. I think most of the problems people have had are because they were ignorant about the regulations. There is nothing magical that makes your guns disappear once you enter the UK air space nor are people just waiting to make hunters's lives miserable while in the London airports.

Mark

I had a bit of a problem in Heathrow but not with BA. Actually the problem was with an inexperienced Air Canada counter person (and my own inexperience). AC was supposed to notify Heathrow baggage handling that a rifle was coming through and didn't. My case got delayed and took a couple days to catch up. The same thing happenned on the way back, but I'd learned my leason. I simply checked in immediately after my flight landed, told them I was traveling with sporting arms. There was a bit of a hold up while the counter staff figured out what to do, then everything went fine.

I learned my lesson and will be flying BA to Windhoek via London. The only problem is my layover won't be long enough this time for me to run into the city and look around.

Dean