Hi all,

Last week I flew to and from Madrid with my guns with Iberia Airlines for our trip to Argentina. On the way out we checked our baggage as requested 2hrs in advance. in 30mins we had our bags checked through and were asked to wait for the courrier to come and take our guns and check the details. 15mins they said. An hour later I was starting t get frustrated and repeatedly asked for someone wwho might know what they were doing. To cut a long story short the courrier finally arrived and took me through to get the guns passed through. My dad and my brother were waiting at the gate to see the guns go on board. It was only when they refused to get on the plane unless they reopened the hold and loaded the guns that they put them on board and we could get on our way.

Upon our return on saturday I came through into baggage reclaim and went straingt to the baggage desk to let them know I would be expecting firearms. The man there said that ye, they had found my guns and ammo. They were just waiting for someone with a licence to bring them up. This was at 4-30. 2rs later my dad and brother went through customs to get a drink as we were all shattered from nearly a whole day of travelling, and I went to have some "subtle" words with the baggage handlinig people.

It was at this point that the bloke on the desk letthe true story slip. It seems Iberia, as with other airlines, employs a firm of baggage handlers. They currently use Avion, who are not licenced to transport firearms. Subsequently they requested the services of a third party (ICTS) who were licenced, but didn't seem to be particularly incentivised.

I finally got my guns after waiting for more than two hours. In Madrid and Buenos Aires there were no such problems with the gun handling, with all items making the connections (one of which was only 35mins).

I just thought it would be worth letting people know in case they are travelling out of Heathrow in the near future.

Rgds,
FB

Heathrow has a bad name when it comes to travelling with guns. Guns disappear, guns don't make the connections. Your story of what goes on behind the scenes seems to confirm and to a certain extent expand on this. Sad state of affairs!
- mike

I fly out of both heathrow and gatwick about 4 times a year with F/arms. Airlines do vary but what i have found and i have had no trouble at all with any of them (except with IGLU coming home)
is that if you book your flight over the net ring them up and tell them that you will be traveling with arms and ammo and if you can inform them approx what time you plan on checking in.
i do this as a matter of course and i usually have the shift manager waiting with security and they process me IMMEDIATLY REGARDLESS OF HOW BIG THE Q IS.
You will also have a better chance of an up grade too if you dress accordingly! another tip is to read the small print over and over again about the regs that the airline stipulate and print them of so if you do have any probs you have got them to hand to help your case if you have a problem.
You have to remember that these people are only doing a job and probably have not checked in a f/arm before, keep smilling and be polite ar ALL times and it should be pretty painless.

But be warned....... airlines can and do change their rules at any time.
I did everything i suggest (got an up grade too) when i flu from gatwick to toronto with IGLU, rifle all cased up ammo in sep bag etc etc, i shot my bear, 2 shots, first shot killed it second shot was insurance ( i dont have any looks to spare) so i had 18 live rounds left.I got my internal with air cananda (no probs), checking in for my international flight home and thay inform me that i cannot travel with ANY live ammo so i keep my smile and being polite and with all the paper work i printed of the web site and all the other bits and pieces that you get when you check in,all info says i can travel with ammo etc, thay say i cannot, i demand (politly) for the shift manager and also airport police ( i took the argument to them!!) shift manager turns up checks all my paperwork says everything is fine and whats the problem! i say thank you,any way some jobs- worth comes running out of the back room with a print out of the back room web site stating that NO live ammo can travel on their flights, this ammendment to company rules started 4 days after my out bound journey!! anyway the long and short of it was i had to leave 18 live rounds with the cops (who were fantastic and argueing my corner) i got another upgrade for free, and a healthy compensation check and an apology 2 weeks after i got home.

Do the same amount of research on your flights as you would your hunt and you shouldn`t have to many troubles.
If you are flying to the states DO NOT lock your cases until you see them checked by TSA because they Will cut them all of, inform them you HAVE to be present when they search them and that you have to see that they are CLEARED and PASSED and LOCKED. Once they start to check them they wll not let you touch them until all the checks are complete and remember KEEP SMILING,( You have not done anything wrong so dont act like a knob).
i`ve probably missed stuff but i`m off out for a run in preperation for my Montana trip in September
Good luck
B

I missed a bit
I am under the impression that it is the airline that is responsible for the f/arm as it goes into special hold, and only the captain has the keys. I must say that i usually see my gear being carried to the aircraft by one of the airline employees.
But i could be missing somthing
B

Bumscratcher,

In most cases the airling is responsible for checking in but the baggage handlers are the ones that deal with the the actual movement of the guns from the desk to the plane.

This is the first time I have had less than perfect service when checking guns in but it was all down to the fact that Avion are not licenced to carry firearms so they had to get ICTS to do it who were not contracted and so not incentivised. I believe that they were also located ina nother terminal which didn't help issues.

Rgds,
FB