Flying with Guns through England

I am looking to book a flight from Toronto to London (Heathrow) and then to Johannesburg.

I am trying to book the flight.

Any advice on bringing guns via England?

I have not done it myself. It appears there can be some issues with transfers inside Heathrow.


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Metropolitan Police Service - Heathrow - Transiting LRH with a Firearm

Inform the airline that you wish to carry a gun in your checked baggage at the time of booking your flight. Give details of the weapon/s if requested.

Check in early. Carry all appropriate documentation for your weapon and ammunition. (Licence/ Certificate and the Licence/ Authority to have and use the weapon once at your country of destination.)

Declare the gun and any ammunition to airline check-in staff at the airport. Passengers carrying firearms will be required to sign a declaration that the weapon is unloaded.

Interesting timing for this. I'll be going to RSA next year but am already looking at flight options. British Airways has a direct flight from PHX To London and of course as you know to Jo'burg from there. And I've also read of gun issues while transiting London.

This is what I've found. If you're flying completely on BA and you fly into Heathrow ( not Gatwick ) then you're good, in fact perhaps better than good. BA apparently has employees whose sole purpose is to handle firearms and they take their jobs seriously, ensuring firearms are separated from normal luggage and ensuring their proper transfer to the correct airplane.

Where I believe you can run into trouble is when you're transferring from one airline to another. This now involves someone else transferring the firearms. If you are having to transfer airports Gatwick to Heathrow or vice versa then it gets to be all the more problematic.

So it's BA/Heathrow all the way or don't do it seems to be the recommendation.

PHOENIX PHIL said:

Interesting timing for this. I'll be going to RSA next year but am already looking at flight options. British Airways has a direct flight from PHX To London and of course as you know to Jo'burg from there. And I've also read of gun issues while transiting London.

This is what I've found. If you're flying completely on BA and you fly into Heathrow ( not Gatwick ) then you're good, in fact perhaps better than good. BA apparently has employees whose sole purpose is to handle firearms and they take their jobs seriously, ensuring firearms are separated from normal luggage and ensuring their proper transfer to the correct airplane.

Where I believe you can run into trouble is when you're transferring from one airline to another. This now involves someone else transferring the firearms. If you are having to transfer airports Gatwick to Heathrow or vice versa then it gets to be all the more problematic.

So it's BA/Heathrow all the way or don't do it seems to be the recommendation.

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This is exactly how it went for me last year with my trip, very good service with BA.

i have said on here a few times that if you are BA or one of their code share partners and transitting through through heathrow its pretty simple no permits etc, you check them in and collect in joburg etc. you have to let ba know a min of 72hrs before flying that you are travelling with firearms and ammunition. they will want to know the make, type (say sporting rifle/shotgun) and calibre. the only thing dont try and fly with any type of .338 cal as for some reason unless its changed recently they lump them all in the .338 lapua name and consider it a miltary sniper round and wont carry it. it may have changed but check before hand. the security company takes them from the plane and stores them till they take them to your next flight, and as they know who is handling them anything goes wrong they know who to talk to.

spike.t said:

......... the only thing dont try and fly with any type of .338 cal as for some reason unless its changed recently they lump them all in the .338 lapua name and consider it a miltary sniper round and wont carry it. ........

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Larger calibers, of any sort that can be construed to be military in someones imagination can be an issue.

If you are taking a larger caliber I'd check that BA will accept it.

BRICKBURN said:

Larger calibers, of any sort that can be construed to be military in someones imagination can be an issue.

If you are taking a larger caliber I'd check that BA will accept it.

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i have flown with .458lott, .416 rigby, .470 and 500 nitro , its just that one(.338) they seem to have a problem with , i wouldnt start rattling the cage and asking questions and confusing people that dont know about these things in the first place.........

spike.t said:

i have flown with .458lott, .416 rigby, .470 and 500 nitro , its just that one(.338) they seem to have a problem with , i wouldnt start rattling the cage and asking questions and confusing people that dont know about these things in the first place.........

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Waking the sleeping giant is always a concern. I get it.

The issue happened two years ago with a hunter with a 50 caliber.
Perhaps BA have settled on being concerned with the .338.

BRICKBURN said:

Waking the sleeping giant is always a concern. I get it.

The issue happened two years ago with a hunter with a 50 caliber.
Perhaps BA have settled on being concerned with the .338.

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hadnt heard of any probs with .500 will check with the people i use. they did get confused with finns .223 bolt action and a semi auto as they thought thats all .223 came in! told them they were getting confused with 5.56mm.......

just checked with them and as far as they can remember they havent had a problem with .500 cals, some clever specimen prob associated it with .50BMG on the time you mentioned . also told me another client they sold a .338 to hasnt had any probs flying with it , whereas they have when doing the couriering and check in with a client, as they said its who you come across on the desk that day...........

I booked BA only Toronto through Heathrow to Johannesburg. Finally spoke to someone there and apparently it is no issue. Thank you for your replies.

Book Star Alliance have your bags and firearm checked all the way through. Air Canada to Heathrow and South Africa Airways to Johannesburg, this is how I flew.

ar15meister said:

I booked BA only Toronto through Heathrow to Johannesburg. Finally spoke to someone there and apparently it is no issue. Thank you for your replies.

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Good to know you're set.
It always amazes me how policies change and we have to bump into them to learn about them.

Here comes Africa. Take lots of pictures for your report.

All airlines worldwide are bound by the Air Navigation Order Carriage of Dangerous Goods Act (amongst others) that was originally formulated at the end of WWII....... Amongst many other things, the Act forbade carriage of any calibre firearm that had ever been adopted as an official military calibre anywhere, ever. This obviously included calibres such as .308 & 30.06 etc.

Some airlines, notably American ones took a sensible attitude to the restriction & ignored it. Others, notably BA enforced it rigorously.

However, the good news is the Act was finally changed about 2 or 3 years ago & BA will now carry these calibres. You should check their website before you travel to ensure nothing has changed & as has been said, BA require 72 hours notice of travel with firearms...... It's advisable to get written proof or acknowledgement from the airline or travel agent of this & be sure to take it with you when you travel.

Note:

Airlines classify firearms as either sporting firearms which they are allowed to transport & weapons of war which they are not. Therefore, always be sure to refer to your firearms as sporting firearms & not as anything else...... especially not as weapons.

BA staff are often not the most educated about firearms so try not to confuse them.

Oh & it's a 5 kg max on ammo per passenger & allowances may not be combined.

Also all detonators, black powder & black powder substitute that are classified as any type of explosive (as opposed to flammable) may not travel under any circumstances, ever.

We flew JFK-Heathrow-Joburg last summer on Vigin Air. Class act, not a problem. Took my takedown BLR rebarelled to .375 Ruger.