The latest issue of Safari Times has an article that states all baggage going to or from OR Tambo International Airport must have at least one ridge flat surface, i.e. no duffle bags. Has anyone encountered this restriction? I will check with Gracy Travel before my next trip to South Africa as I normally travel with duffle bags. The article also states that other international airports including Dubai have similar restrictions. My wife and I transited through Dubai within the past two weeks with duffle bags without incident.

Their luggage conveyors are eating duffle bags - as if the luggage theft wasn't bad enough.

FWW - I wouldn't travel through Tambo without hard sided suitcases and additional luggage locks. Anything less is simply begging for someone to steal your stuff.

Maybe pack a duffle inside a hard sided bag and leave the hard side with your operator as you travel in-country? I did something similar recently. I checked an empty bag over, but carried a duffle in the cabin. Left the empty with my host and used the duffle from camp to camp. I packed the empty with souvenirs and some clothes from my duffle for padding, then locked and checked it on the way back. The duffle held a few small things, cameras, binos, etc. worked well.

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Flew ORT to Lagos Sunday night with two checked North Face bags. No issues whatsoever, neither checking in on SAA or theft.

If you believe in all the ORT theft stories you read, I guess I was the lucky guy and of the 270 thousand pieces of baggage that went through ORT on Sunday mine were the only ones not pilfered !



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Last year I went through to Botswana and back with two duffels. No problem.

quote:

Luggage manufacturer Samsonite SA said its Joburg repair centre processed 150 repairs a month, 70% of them being due to "luggage mishandling, breaking into cases and abuse by the baggage handlers/airlines".

But good news, ORT airport general manager Bongiwe Pityi-Vokwana said there was a reduction in baggage tampering at the airport last year.

Riiiiiiiight.

Dileseng Koetle with SSA recently told Parliament’s Tourism Committee that pilferage at OR Tambo was double the average rate at other airports in the world.

I just went through joberg. many duffel bags were being checked with no issues.

one group had 9 SCI blue bags with no issues. many hunters had one or two duffel bags with straps and no issues.

I ran into issues leaving my home terminal. Seems to be an issue for me. they went through all my bags and i needed to repack my tuffpak. I appears that there is a policy about packing clothing with your firearms.
So i needed to repack my tuff pak. no clothing or shoes. i did not know about this.