In the process of booking our return flight using Alaska Air miles from Jo-berg to Anchorage. We are using British Airways (as we always have) for the trip over. There are no first class mileage tickets available for the return but they are available on Cathay Pacific.

The routing would be Jo-berg to Hong Kong to LA and up to Anchorage.

Anyone ever flown them with firearms. The website shows a charge of about $175 per gun but no other information.

Have not flown Cathay, but generally transiting through Asian countries with firearms is best avoided.

I travelled through HK with several others carrying firearms in 2003. We had a 3 hour window between flights. As we walked off the plane, there was someone waiting with our name on a sign and we were whisked into the bowels of the airport by an airline official. We spent the next 2 hours going through our bags and matching all our paperwork to the rifles we were travelling with for a group of police and customs officials. Every bag we had was searched, even when all the firearms on our documentation was accounted for.

Some others in our group that left a few days earlier got a more rigorous grilling than we did.

Just a suggestion, but Emirates have teamed up with Qantas recently. You may be able to book a Qantas codeshare via Dubbai through Emirates with Oneworld miles. You will need to get approval to travel with firearms, but once you have the right approvals in place, the actual travel is smooth.

Thank you for the response.

Has anyone else been through Hong Kong with a firearm more recently than 2003?

I am looking at booking on Cathay pacific also and trying to decide if they accept firearms

Stay out of HK with firearms!
Cal

quote:

Originally posted by cal pappas:
Stay out of HK with firearms!
Cal

What experience do you have with it Cal?

I had some firearms shipped to OZ from the Us . The exporter sent them and they ended up shipping via HK.
WHat a disaster. They were confiscated and it took me 2months to get them released! We had paperwork from Us and Oz but the Chinese seem to have a no gun policy!
My advice , steer clear.

Nick

quote:

Originally posted by nickh:
I had some firearms shipped to OZ from the Us . The exporter sent them and they ended up shipping via HK.
WHat a disaster. They were confiscated and it took me 2months to get them released! We had paperwork from Us and Oz but the Chinese seem to have a no gun policy!
My advice , steer clear.

Nick

Thanks for the information. I have been reading through the Hong Kong customs regulations. Very complicated in spots and vague in others.

Appears strict in anything percieved as "dealing" in firearms so perhaps the simple shipment of yours fell under that catagory.

I agree it may be risky going this route. I'll do some more research. I have heard from one individual that transitted totally without incident.

Anyone else with personal experience?

I have had no experience with firearms on Cathay Pacific but other than that I can say it's a very good airline. Flown with them quite a few times on business and always enjoyed it.