Qatar Airways

[Scott CWO]

I returned from Africa on April 30 on Qatar as well (JNB - Doha - Montreal), and I echo these comments.

It will take a bit of time, but if your travel agent has ensured that the firearm is mentioned under "Special Remarks" on your reservation, along with the weight of the firearms bag, and you have the "Firearm Surrender" form handy (available on their website) and filled out in advance (except for the signature - they need to see you do that), things will be pretty smooth.

You don't need to have the form in advance - they will have them - but it will just add to the time it takes to check in if you have to start from scratch . . . and in my experience, showing that you are aware of what the procedures are always gives the agent a bit of confidence - they aren't usually as familiar with travelling with firearms as you might expect.

Not finding the form on the website. Looking in baggage and special and restricted area and also did a search. Can you provide a link? Thanks!

 

[Hank2211]

I just returned from RSA flying on Qatar through Doha with my rifles. I used Patrick at Travel with Guns to make my travel arrangements and had no troubles with Qatar. Flights are long but planes are nice and service is great.

My pieces of advice I will give are to make sure you check into your flight in plenty of time. Between them sorting out COVID-19 restrictions and the firearm check in process you will be a bit. Have patience, also do not sign the Qatar form until they tell you too. It must be signed in the presence of a Qatar representative.

They asked me both ways to weigh my ammo container apart from my checked bag, then had me put it back into my checked bag before weighing it as well.

You should be able to check your luggage clear through to Johannesburg when you leave the US then you don't have to worry about dealing with it in Doha.

All if the people that I dealt with were polite and helpful. If you need to go this route to get to Africa it is 100% worth it.

I returned from Africa on April 30 on Qatar as well (JNB - Doha - Montreal), and I echo these comments.

It will take a bit of time, but if your travel agent has ensured that the firearm is mentioned under "Special Remarks" on your reservation, along with the weight of the firearms bag, and you have the "Firearm Surrender" form handy (available on their website) and filled out in advance (except for the signature - they need to see you do that), things will be pretty smooth.

You don't need to have the form in advance - they will have them - but it will just add to the time it takes to check in if you have to start from scratch . . . and in my experience, showing that you are aware of what the procedures are always gives the agent a bit of confidence - they aren't usually as familiar with travelling with firearms as you might expect.

Not finding the form on the website. Looking in baggage and special and restricted area and also did a search. Can you provide a link? Thanks!

This is a bit of an odd link, but this is the form:

https://www.amakulutravel.dk/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/declaration_of_surrender_of_firearms.pdf

I got it from my travel agent, but this is the one I found online.

Hope it helps.

 

[Rick HOlbert]

Not finding the form on the website. Looking in baggage and special and restricted area and also did a search. Can you provide a link? Thanks!

Here is a copy of the form for you

 

[meigsbucks]

Tracey you are so right. The folks at TWG went beyond the call of duty for my last trip and the trip I'm about to leave on this month. The couple of hundred extra you pay going through a travel agency is well worth the peace of mind.

I used TWG on both of my trips (not on Qatar) and they had everything handled. I highly recommend them.

 

[Dee S]

We leave tomorrow from Houston, heading to Johannesburg, then Cape Town to Houston a week later. It will be my second time over flying Qatar. Had no issues the first trip, don't expect any this trip, but I haven't flown since the COVID hit.
We will see tomorrow.

 

[shootist~]

We leave tomorrow from Houston, heading to Johannesburg, then Cape Town to Houston a week later. It will be my second time over flying Qatar. Had no issues the first trip, don't expect any this trip, but I haven't flown since the COVID hit.
We will see tomorrow.

Please update when you are able...

Oh - and a hunt report too!!

 

[Vanguard2279]

I leave Monday (LAS-IAH-DOH-JNB-PLZ). I used the Lady Warriors @TRAVEL EXPRESS to book my flights and Afton for my permits. I've been chatting with a friend who took Qatar thru DFW and is getting ready to depart JNB at this moment. There seems to be a bit of difference with each airport. He was never asked for the Declaration of Surrender of Firearms. I've printed it out and will have it ready just in case.
One thing that I find interesting: United and American Airlines have been asking for Import permits on my last three trips, even when they are only the domestic leg. I'm sure that many of you know how it is discussing with them how they are wrong. It generally is rectified by telling them to fly my luggage and rifle case to the next domestic airport where I pick it up and check it with the international carrier. United has done that begrudgingly. This could just be a Vegas thing, but a friend dealt with this is in Atlanta with American and they were only flying him to DFW.

 

[Rare Breed]

Hello I am planning to travel via Doha, Qatar to hunt in South Africa. Anyone here has experience flying to JoBurg using Qatar Airways. I heard Qatar Airways has good rating. However, until now I can't have any answer from their Customer Service regarding my firearms. I sent them CBP 4457, SAPS 520, and Invitation Letter from the outfitter. Any input will be much appreciated. I am going in late June 2021.

I am traveling Qatar Atl to Doha to Jberg with a 4 hour layover in Doha. I have done everything right in terms of paperwork and of course using Lori at TE. My question is are my bags and gun checked all the way through from start to finish? Thanks!

 

[Tracey Colson]

I am traveling Qatar Atl to Doha to Jberg with a 4 hour layover in Doha. I have done everything right in terms of paperwork and of course using Lori at TE. My question is are my bags and gun checked all the way through from start to finish? Thanks!

When I flew I went Seattle/Doha/Joberg and mine were checked through all the way to Joberg. Had no troubles.

You should have no problems with that layover time, my wife and I had a tight connection coming home, (we were 42 minutes plane to plane) I was a little worried about our luggage making the connecting flight but if you download the Qatar app and put your trip info in it you will get a notification that your bags have been loaded on the connecting flight.

 

[Rare Breed]

Thanks!

 

[Cecil Hammonds]

After a number of emails sent to a number of addresses at Qatar, I received the following:

From: Ahlem Bensaid <abensaid@qatarairways.com.qa> On Behalf Of PFC DOH
Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2021 5:39 PM
To:
Cc: PFC DOH <pfcdoh@qatarairways.com.qa>
Subject: RE: [External]FW: Firearms approval - MVZT8F Qatar Airways



Dear Mr. Edward

Thank you for writing to us

Kindly provide information about type, dimensions of the weapon`s case and total weight of the weapon along with the case , and total weight of the ammunition.

Notes:

• The passenger must sign the Declaration of Surrender of Firearms.
• The weapon must be unloaded and should be properly wrapped and packed in a hard-sided, lockable container. If possible, the weapon should be dismantled and packed inside a suitcase or gun case.
• The ammunition must be securely packed in a sealed, strong wooden, metal or fibreboard box or other packaging specially designed to carry small amounts of ammunition. This packaging shall be contained inside a hard-sided suitcase or in the hard-sided case containing the firearm. Only one package of ammunition intended for personal use and with gross weight not exceeding 5 kg, is allowed per passenger. If the gross weight exceeds 5 kg, the ammunition may be carried only as cargo.
• The ammunition shall not contain any explosive or incendiary projectiles, which are totally prohibited for carriage by air.
• The original documents should by carried by the passenger and presented at check-in.

Best Regards

Customer Contact Centre Qatar
Tel: +974 4023 0000

www.flyqatar.com/help

Going places together. qatarairways.com


If you PM me I will send the Declaration in WORD form so you can easily fill out for your trip over and your trip back.

Ed

Hi Ed,

Can I get a copy of that as well. We are traveling to Tanzania from DFW on Qatar Airways in late June this year. I have been getting a bit of the run around as well.

Thanks!

Cecil Hammonds

 

[MWK]

Hi Ed & Cecil:

Try to send the email to specialservices@us.qatarairways.com. You want to send the following documents.

1. E.ticket.
2. CBP 4457
3. Invitation Letter from your outfitter.
4. Passport

The email has capacity of 6MB. I split mine into two parts or your email will be rejected by the postmaster.

Best of luck,

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

I talked to a friend who just flew out of Houston on Qatar. He said he had to provide printed copies of Passport,4457 form,invitation letter and a copy of pre approval SAPS permit along with Firearms surrender letter. Before they would check his firearms. Even tho he had emailed all of those in they still wanted printed copies when he got there for there records.
Anyone else had to have all these documents?

He also said they had to remove ammo box from luggage and they weighed it. If it was over 11 lbs. they had to own it and remove ammo and just place ammo on scales.

 

[Beretta391]

We flew to Namibia in 2019 out of DFW on Qatar and that sounds right to me. We had TWG do our paperwork but they wanted more copies at the airport. I had 5 sets of paperwork with me. Anything they asked for I just handed to them. They did weigh our ammo

 

[Hogpatrol]

I talked to a friend who just flew out of Houston on Qatar. He said he had to provide printed copies of Passport,4457 form,invitation letter and a copy of pre approval SAPS permit along with Firearms surrender letter. Before they would check his firearms. Even tho he had emailed all of those in they still wanted printed copies when he got there for there records.
Anyone else had to have all these documents?

He also said they had to remove ammo box from luggage and they weighed it. If it was over 11 lbs. they had to own it and remove ammo and just place ammo on scales.

So did they just not count the weight of the case?

 

[Beretta391]

They also will weigh ur carry on. We took a personal bag also. Kinda of a big man purse!! Put all of our heavy stuff in it and just sat it in the floor when we checked in and nobody said a thing about it. It’s about 6”x 8” x 12”. Amazing how much u can cram in it!!

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

So did they just not count the weight of the case?

He said he was over 11 lbs on there scales with case and ammo. So they had him unpack it and weighed just ammo. It was under 11 lbs of just ammo and let him pack it back up and out in bag. They did not count case as part of weight.
He was in business class also. If that mattered or not I don’t know.

 

[Ed Lally]

Just arrived JNB from BOS. Planes were about 40% full. No one weighed ammo or carryons. I had all paperwork including Declaration of Surrender of Firearms which they glanced at but didn't take. I had a large camera case with cameras, solar battery charger, binocs, range finger, etc which was not looked at. My wife had a jumbo purse/bag with ??? weighting 24#. No problem. Har to spend 3/4 hour filling out a form for the piolet to sign because I forgot to call and advise of firearms. Bags were checked through to JNB. Had a meet & greet scheduled with AfricaSky which git us through customs and SAPS firearms control in minutes. A real blessing. Tour JNB tomorrow. Hunt Zim after.

 

[Hogpatrol]

Arrived JNB today, PHL, Doha. One hour and forty five minutes for two of us to check in and get our guns and ammo through the gate agents and tsa at PHL. Ammo and carry ons not weighed by Qatar but ammo inspected by tsa. Qatar wanted firearm surrender form, 4457s, passport copy, covid-19 test results
And invitation letter from outfitter.
The holdup was waiting for tsa agents to come and check the guns. From what we understand, we were the first passengers shipping at PHL firearms on board Qatar.

 

[Hogpatrol]

Add ons. We used Gracy and firearm shipping was already oked and confirmed. Glad we allowed plenty of time to check in. Got there three hours early and it got real busy after us.