I'm working on booking my first hunting trip to Africa for me and my son. I asked that we fly through Frankfurt. However, the travel agent has initially proposed that we fly on Delta via London. They say that I can check our rifles and bags through to Windhoek.

Has anyone traveled this route, and was the transition London smooth or painful?

I would appreciate any info you can give me.

Thanks!!!

It only gets painful if you need to bring your rifles from the airside into the airport ie if you were tansfering to another UK airport via road for example

I flown via London a couple of times and what i did was hang back at boarding time and then asked the boarding desk to confirm the rifles were onboard..

I explained that unless they were, I couldn't travel "for security reasons"..The threat of the flight being delayed while they took my luggage off meant it was easier for them to ensure the rifles were aboard..

Regards,

Peter

I flew LAX to ATL to London (Gatwick) to Windhoek last August.

Only do this if you can fly into Gatwick airport as the Air Namibia flight leaves from there and you don't want to have to hire a courier to take your gun from Heathrow airport to Gatwick airport as last I heard it cost over $1,000.

The only painful thing was that the overnight flight from CONUS to Gatwick lands about 8 AM and the flight to Windhoek is supposed to leave at 7:30 PM but usually doesn't leave until after 9 PM. So you have 13+ hours at Gatwick airport. I tried to get a day room at three hotels around the airport and all of them said that I couldn't check in until after 3PM.

Whichever way you go, you'll need some kind of paperwork and you'll find these here http://www.shakariconnection.com/travel-namibia.html and here http://www.shakariconnection.com/namibia-visa.html

I'm a bit out of touch with Air Namibia but get an idea BA handle their check in process, in which case they might apply some of their own rules, so check to see if they require notice of travel with firearms.......... BA require 3 days notice.

Hope that helps

I did it last May. It was easy. We also spent three days in London on the way there. I used PDQ Freight to handle and store our guns while we were in London. Bob Nagra was professional in every sense of the word. He whisked us past the long lines thru security and made sure our guns were on the flight to Jo'burg. We used Optima in Jo'burg to verify our bags were on the flight to Windhoek. Our bags were checked from Windhoek thru Jo'burg (where we used Optima again $50 each time) thru London back to Dallas.

I did it throught Gatwick last year. It was painless except for the 14 hour layover, except one of the guys in the party didn't get his luggage, and there wasn't another flight for 7 days. he hunted in low tennis shoes and street clothes for a week.

I am going back in July and am doing the ATL, Jburg, WDH route. I would rather get it over with than spend that long break in London. At least the stopover in Jburg is for the evening, etc. It is all personal pref., but I felt like I wasted a day in travel.

Maybe someone can recall the rules on gun adopted in England, like the scope management, don't put it in hand luggage, but I don't remember if it is possible to put it in the suitcase.

Unless Delta has a baggage sharing agreement with Air Namibia, and I don't know if they do or not, (American Airlines does not, as of last summer) you will have to take possession of your bags to re-check them in. That will be a problem in England. Unless your travel agent specializes in hunting I would highly recommend that you switch to Kathi.

As long as the airlines involved have a baggage sharing agreement and you don't change airports it's easy is you've given the required notification, etc.

The break in the flight is nice. There are interesting things to do in London. Holland & Holland for example. However, changing airports is a major pain in the ass. You have to hire a service to transfer the guns. The last time I did it, I think it cost about $750.

I make sure I tell them when I book my tickets that I will be traveling with firearms and make sure the log it into the ticket history. About a month before I travel, I call the airline and confirm that they know.

We went Delta thru Frankfurt, Air Namibia from there, very helpful Delta agent in Frankfurt saved a lost rifle for us by caring about customers and going an extra step, therefore no problems. I am thinking about going BA via London, but would not do so unless a good agent familiar with travel for HUNTERS, for example Gracy or Kathi, OKed it.....other travel agencies may know what they or doing,.... or not. That said, think Pete E is correct.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Malinverni:
Maybe someone can recall the rules on gun adopted in England, like the scope management, don't put it in hand luggage, but I don't remember if it is possible to put it in the suitcase.

Steve,

"Officially" there should be no problem putting a scope in your hand luggage as scopes are not subject to any legal restrictions in the UK. That said, it might raise a few eyebrows with some of the check-in staff who through either ignoance or malice, take issue with it...

Definately don't travel with your bolt in your hand luggage, (although thats by far the most sensible thing to do) as its classed a part of firarm.

Bolt and/or scope can be put in your suitcase should you wish although I would prefer them to be in my riflecase.

I would strongly recommend for everyone to write their cellphone number on the luggage lable of their riflecase and again on another similar label *inside* the case.

This means that if the authorises need to contact you over any potential problems or if the case should get lost, they have a means of contacting you asap...Thats assuming the cellphone has international roaming of course.

Regards,

Peter

I've done the trip to Windhoek from Atlanta via Gadwick with Delta and Air Namibia. The 14 hour layover is either a pain of an opportunity to see London. The perk is you can usually get a class upgrade on the Air Namibia flight for about $200 when you check in and get a good nights sleep on the 10 hours flight. Delta and Air Namibia have a baggage agreement. So, use Delta and check your bags to Windhoek.

Friend of a friend had a hell of a problem w/ choke tubes in his luggage, sorry can't remember checked or carry on, I'd lock all the gun parts in the gun case. Brits said something about undeclared gun parts....What could you do w/a choke tube I don't know!
Scope in a box...tell them it's a present for the PH.

The only direct flights to Windhoek is via Gatwick with Air Namibia, from Heathrow you have to go via Joburg or Capetown which adds extra travel time, plus there are always problems with guns going missing at joburg.