Flying with sporting equipment

SPORTS EQUIPMENT REQUIRING SPECIALISED CARRIAGE

Archery equipment.

Artist's equipment.

Bicycles.

Canoes / kayaks.

Diving equipment.

Equestrian equipment.

Fencing equipment.

Firearms.

Golf clubs.

Ice skates.

Kites.

Mountaineering equipment.

Sand / skate / snow / surf - boards.

Water ski equipment.

Winter ski equipment.

FIND HOTELS NEAR YOUR FAVOURITE SPORTS VENUES WITH HOTELS COMBINED

Before flying with sporting equipment you must pre register all your equipment - including specialist sports clothing - with your airline at the time of booking. All airline companies specify different criteria and carriage prices for sporting equipment, so do check with your chosen airline's website for details.

Special attention must be made to the airline's weight and size restrictions,as well as the appropriate packaging methods and / or correct travel baggage required for your items.

Due to inflight security, health and safety regulations, weight restrictions and limited cabin space, all sporting equipment must travel in the airline hold, even smaller, light weight items such as baseball bats, bowls, crash helmets, cricket bats, darts, epees, fishing rods, hockey sticks, ice picks, kites, billiards / pool / snooker cues and tennis / squash racquets. Because of this, please ensure that these items are sufficiently protected for travel and correctly labelled with your name and destination.

All fragile items must be securely wrapped with an appropriate, protective covering, or packed in the item's own, specialist travel baggage in order to minimise damage whilst in transit. Most airports have on site, bubble wrap machines that you can use to wrap up your items, if you are unable to do so from home, but do make sure about this before you travel. Don't forget to correctly label your item after you have wrapped it.

Some sporting package holiday companies will include sports equipment carriage in the price of their holiday, but do make sure of this at the time of booking.

Most sporting holiday destinations will provide basic sports equipment onsite, so do check this at the time of booking, in order to save yourself the cost of carriage.

In general, the only people who really need to travel with their own sporting equipment are those that are engaged in competition or those that have specialised, tailor made sporting items.

Check with local sports clubs for travel information, most are happy to advise you on sports equipment carriage and insurance.

If you are travelling independently, please ensure any onward travel arrangements, such as coaches, trains and taxis from the airport, can accommodate your sports equipment.

Arrange with your hotel for the safe and secure storage of your sports equipment, before booking, as not all hotels allow sports equipment on their premises, particularly potentially hazardous items such diving tanks, firearms, fencing or archery equipment.

If you are intending to partake of a particular sporting or recreational course or lessons whilst abroad, please check with the school or course organisers, before you travel, if you need to supply your own equipment, or if they supply it themselves. This is particularly useful to know if you are intending to take cookery, diving, sking, golfing or painting lessons.

REGULATED SPORTS EQUIPMENT

Some airlines specify that bicycles must be folded and their pedals removed, before packaging the item in protective bubble wrap and correctly labeling it.

All diving tanks must be empty and appropriately labelled for travel.

All firearms must have the appropriate travel documentation,for both the country you are travelling from and the country you are travelling to,as different countries have different firearms laws.

Some restrictions apply to the carriage of martial arts equipment, so do make sure of your airline's carriage criteria when booking, as some items are completely banned from airline travel, even in the airline's baggage hold.

Due to inflight security, all darts, knives, ice picks, swords and epees, used in the pursuit of sport, must be securely packed and stowed in the luggage hold.

If you have any queries about the transit of potentially dangerous sporting items abroad, please check with your country of destination's embassy before travelling.

For a list of prohibited sporting equipment, please refer to our page - Prohibited-luggage

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