I am trying to get to Namibia in September for a hunt and the cheapest fares seem to be on Virgin Atlantic through London. Anyone have any advice on travelling with firearms through London?

I did it on British Airways several years ago without a problem. Any advice or first-hand knowledge will be greatly appreciated.

Check with Virgin on their rules for firearms and ammo. If you are doing a transfer it should be ok. If you are overnighting you will need to put them in a bonded facility.

Travelling through London to Windhoek this weekend.
Aer Lingus to LHR then South African airways to OT and on to Windhoek. The two airlines are partners so have an inter airline baggage agreement so we check our baggage straight through Dublin to Windhoek.
This means(hopefully) no grief in the UK.
Will let you know how we got on.

Easy peasy as long as you do not transfer from Heathrow to Gatwick! That is where it can extremely ugly very quickly :-0

Thanks for the responses. Does anyone know if there is a direct flight from London to Windhoek? It would be nice to not have to fly down to Johannesburg and then back up to Namibia.

No direct flight between London and Windhoek. Have fun!

Several years ago Air Namibia flew to Windhoek from both London AND Frankfurt. Now they fly ONLY from Frankfurt. I have flown the Frk-Whk route 5 times but will no longer do so : First because of the hassle of the required German import gun permit,even if guns remain in transit and not claimed there for recheck onward. Second because Air Namibia now has a surcharge of approx $100 US (80 Euros ?)
for a gun case BOTH ways ! The charge is $50 each way if AN is the carrier between Jbg and Whk.I no longer fly with Air Namibia. AN has a history of cancelling flights and they were recently on strike;both situations cause concerns about their" dependability ". SAA has two flights from Jbg to Whk daily. The AM flight arrives about 10:30 which leaves most of the day for shopping etc. in Whk if desired.

I flew tour-retour Frankfurt-Windhoek during easter time this year and can confirm the 80 euros....really pissed me off...I will consider flying via SA next time..

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana91:

I did it on British Airways several years ago without a problem. Any advice or first-hand knowledge will be greatly appreciated.

British Airways partner on the Jo,burg to Windhoek leg, Comair,will not carry firearms.

SAA are very easy about them.midweek travel is cheaper.

I flew BA with guns from London to Jo'burg and transferred to SAA to Windhoek with no dramas at all. I would MOST HIGHLY recommend BA for the London-Jo'burg route as it is the only airline that has a Premium Economy on that route. P.E. on BA is like Business on any other airline. Well worth it! If you are flying First or Business anyway, it doesn't matter of course, bu I prefer the balance of comfort and cost with the P.E. on BA.

I will most likely try to get back to Namibia next year. I have been there three times, all via the Frankfurt/Namibia route. All went without a hitch and enjoyed the "long" layover in Germany as well. I don't like folks coming up with new, overly unnecessary fees, (reminds me of my "current" government), but won't change my route because of this "new" thing in Germany. When looked at in the context of the total cost of Safari, it's really a small matter and price to pay for something that is still the obvious best way to go.

I personally would never travel through the United Kingdom, just my thing, even though some here have/do so without a problem. Good luck with your trip whichever way you choose to go.

Larry Sellers
SCI(International)Life Member
Sabatti 'trash' Double Shooter
R8 Blaser
DRSS

Larry,

Don't forget the $100 surcharge by Air Namibia to carry your gun case to and from Windhoek (not to mention AN history of cancelling of flights on a fairly regular basis) ! Also, the German gun import permit application must be submitted AT LEAST four weeks ahead of time and must be accompanied by the $20 Euro application fee, plus the cost of the wire transfer charge. That brings the cost to about $80 US.

Traveling through London with firearms can always be difficult and end up in a major conundrum. Best to avoid this problem at all costs.

Thanks for all of your comments.

I just booked Detroit to Washington D.C. to Johannesburg on South African Airways. Spend the night in Joburg and then back to the airport; and SAA up to Windhoek, Namibia.

Now, time to prepare mentally and physically for the long-haul.

I have chosen to travel threw london on my last 4 safaris!
They require at least 3 hours transit and 72 hours notification on that you are comming.
You also have to pay a luggage handling fee, but most airlines have that now.
After they started with the handling fee, I have never had any issues with firearms.
I would actually recomend going threw London, based on my experience
good luck on your safari!

-Jostein

so. travelled out last sunday week. checked our bags and firearms all the way through from Dublin to Windhoek through Heathrow and Jo,burg.

Everything appeared at the end of our journeys both ways faultlessly and we had a good time.