Visas when arriving by small plane, trans Africa

[Sam Rutherford]

I am now deep in planning for our trans-Africa, and have come across a potential problem - the size of which is, as yet, unclear.

Most countries on our route (east coast) do not require a British citizen to have a visa in advance (paperwork is done on arrival) - but is this dependant on arriving with a scheduled carrier?

I would be very keen to hear from anyone with knowledge about this for:

Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa (also Mozambique for luck!).

Thanks for any replies!

Sam.

[172driver]

Sam, I have arrived on non-scheduled a/c into Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa, none of which were a problem. It depends more on the airport you are flying into, IOW you have to arrive at a designated port of entry. This can be waived in some instances, but I would certainly not count on it in planning. In any case, travel by light a/c is pretty common in Africa, so you won't be the only one doing it.

[IO540]

Sam, are you doing this yourself, or using an overflight agent?

I have 3 URLs for these agents

Executive Jet Charter, Air Cargo & Chartered Passenger Flights - 1st Charter, UK (http://www.1stcharter.com/)
Overflight flight clearance specialists (http://www.overflight.co.uk/)
FSI - Flight Service International GmbH (http://www.fsint.de/)

Never used any of them though. The nearest was when planning a trip down to Luxor HELX for which one of the above quoted me £70 for the visa, in 24hrs, whereas the Egyptian Aviation Ministry did not get me anywhere after 2-3 months of hassling them.

However, the persistent reports from people who have flown in Africa is that a bundle of US$ solves everything. It certainly would do in Egypt; the question is whether one wants to risk it because there are airports which will refuse a landing permission even when you are on final approach, if you haven't got a permit.

[Sam Rutherford]

I have Mike at White Rose doing the clearances - so the plane will be correct and legal - it's just the 'crew' I'm trying to plan ahead for!

I have heard all sorts of conflicting info, and am trying to work out if I am solving a problem that doesn't exist - or whether I'm heavily behind the curve in getting a bunch of visas!

Sam.

[Africrash]

Hi

Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique are no problem as long as you use a designated airport of entry, Zambia from memory is also the same.

I recommend checking if there is a notice period though as Mozambique especially has airport of entry status for some un manned strips!

Crash

[beerdrinker]

Have a stack of General Declarations ready for each arrival and departure. -And Dollars

[Sam Rutherford]

HI Crash,

Are you sure about Tanzania, because they're one of the few that do require a visa in advance even as tourists...?

Sam.

[Romeo Tango]

In my experience arriving as aircrew almost anywhere in Africa without a visa is not a problem ... many places don't even want your passport (esp West Africa).

Bill

[IO540]

As aircrew, maybe, but the OP was not that specific. Is it really true that every African country allows an EU citizen in without a Visa?

[LH2]

Is it really true that every African country allows an EU citizen in without a Visa?

Nope. Not according to my passport anyway :)

[IO540]

Not according to mine either :)

But there is a difference between flying on a western airline (which will simply not carry you until you have what they see as the right paperwork) and arriving in your own plane.

In the latter case you may be able to "buy" a visa upon landing. For example, in Egypt you buy such a visa after you land - even as an EU citizen travelling on an airline. It's just another revenue source for the locals. It's a sticky stamp which goes in your passport.

One thing, which I am reliably informed massively lubricates any passage in the 3rd world, is the wearing of a pilot uniform. Some of the reports I've heard are truly amazing. It's a cheap measure too - £100-200 from a pilot shop for the jacket, shirt, trousers and the absolutely essential four gold bars on each shoulder and the jacket sleeves. Just remember to change before returning to the UK otherwise you will get a laugh :)

[Mariner9]

Heartily concur with IO's advice re the uniform. We're just back from a 3 week aero safari of S Africa, Botswana & Zambia and were advised by the locals to wear pilot shirts & epaulettes.

Felt a bit of a phony in the 'uniform' at the Maun (Botswana) AIS office when asked what I was flying by a British PC12 charter pilot and admitted it was a C182 :O Decided not to wear the uniform after that, but thereafter had far more hassles with both immigration and customs.

No problems with visas for S Africa or Botswana, though we obtained visas for Zambia beforehand. Another point re Zambia - you have to obtain clearance for any flight in Zambia from their Air Force at least 24 hours beforehand.

Make sure you take an Air BP card for fuel too - they seem to have the monopoly for most of Southern Africa.

[Africrash]

Hi,

If entering as crew Tanzania is fine on a Gen dec and license, but wearing 4 gold bars does wonders for speeding things up, as for visas in advance, they have said it for years as an official line, but virtually all of our guests come in and get the visa on arrival at Dar es Salaam or Kilimanjaro, just be prepared for a que! I am not sure if you can get the visa issued at some other airport of entry here, but I think Mwanza and Mbeya are both ok, they certainly were last year.

As someone said General declarations and lots of dollars, bring a good stack of smaller denomination notes as change is often a problem, also make sure they are all later than 2001 as many countries will not take earlier notes.

Crash