I am supposed to leave for J'Burg via Turkish airlines from LAX on 28th of July and for Harare via SAA on the 31st.

Now, if airline travel resumes I do want to make my hunt. However, due to the SAA situation I might have no way getting to Harare from J'Burg with firearms.

One option is to cancel the THY flight and use Emirates to fly to Harare via Dubai. I have a few questions:

First, does Business class have seats that become beds (180 degree recline), I noticed they have Business AND First and I wonder if they are just relabeling Business what others call Economy Flex with just extra leg room.

Second, if I want to spend a few extra days at Dubai at the end of the trip how would I handle my firearms, and even if it is possible to do that.

Thanks.

I was talking to friends returning to South Africa last week.

They had to go to mandatory quarantine for some days.

Not sure how long is going to be in effect.

If you are booked on Emirates, arriving and leaving on Emirates, they will take care of your firearms, regardless of the number of days you spend here.

You will not have access to your checked baggage.

I cannot help you with the seats, as they have several configuration and don’t know which you will have.

I have no idea what it will be like here by then.

Currently we have partial working hours.

Office can have 30% of their workforce in office, the rest have to be working from home.

Malls and shops are open from 12 noon to 10 in the evening.

This is Ramadan timing.

I have made a couple of business class flight on Emirates DFW/Dubai/J'Burg. On the 380 and 777s I took the business seats did in fact fully recline and were in individually divided pods. Due to the connections I needed to overnight in Dubai and Emirates picks you up at the airport and provides a luxury hotel room and meal tickets. Emirates retained my firearms and checked luggage so anything you need for the stay over needs to be in your carry on.

I should also mention, in Dallas they send an individual limo to pick you up at your house and provide a limo to take you home. It was also nice to be able to take a shower in the business class lounge in J'Burg after a long day returning from Moze and before the flight to Dubai.

I really like the service on Emirates but I wish they were not so anti hunting.

If bad comes to worse, you can drive from Jo'burg to Harare in a vey long day. I would look at this option before I would cancel a hunt. Pesonally I enjoy seeing the country and the people. Within a country I usually drive rather the charter for the above reasons.
Cal
PS. Or take Rovos Rail or the Blue Train for top class train ride between the two cities. You may be able to take the train to Vic. Falls, too.
Cal

I am going by car to Dante N. rather than chartering for those reasons. But I am being driven there.

However, I think logistically renting a car and driving to Harare is not very practical. Not to mention I would not do that well at the road blocks if the police did not speak English or decided to shake me down.

I will look into the trains. If SAA is dead then there is no point in me going to Victoria Falls. Girlfriend was traveling from NYC to Victoria Falls with SAA. Any other airline would not work as she had only 3 days free.

Driving between countries, and crossing international borders, in Africa is not something one should look forward to.