Hi All,
So to bring my airpistol along as mentioned in one of my first posts (
https://www.indiansforguns.com/viewtopi ... 46&t=27432) , I started doing the following to prepare for my trip to from Canada to India:
1. Contacted Etihad Airways and told them about my intention to fly/carry the airpistol in the trip.
2. Etihad's representative asks me to send an email on the details of the gun. She initially thought that it was a real firearm which I later clarify over the email.
3. I also mention about the non-requirement of license for an airgun/airpistol with muzle velocity <152m/s or muzzle energy < 5J; and for airpistols/airguns with a bore of 0.177cal and/or muzzle energy < 20J in India (destination).
4. The Etihad Representative sends a carrier specific firearms carriage form which I fill out and send back to Etihad. This form has to be filled with details about the gun, the calibre of bullets used, # of rounds, magazine capacity, weight etc.
Here is where the weird/unknown stuff comes in (#5 and 5a):
5. After two days (yesterday 22-JAN-2020) Etihad representative sends me an email stating that I have to get an approval from DGCA and Aircustoms Chennai as well. She gives me an email ID of the Chennai aircustoms and also a DGCA form that reads
"Carriage of Arms From/To/Through India" which as instructed by etihad, needs to be filled and sent to the aircustoms email they provided.
5a. This DGCA form pretty much talks about flying with
firearms, explosives, military stores, radioactive materials and requires filling out details like information of the article being transported, consignor/consignee details (both of which is me), UN number of the article that is getting transported, type of aircraft the article is being transported in.
Is this a normal procedure or a new procedure introduced recently? Am I missing something or doing something in the mistakenly wrong way? Cos' I have consistently told etihad over email and phone calls that the gun is
not a firearm. I even sent pictures of the BBs used, Co2 cans and also my membership card to the airgun range here in Canada.
Can someone please shed in some light here please? Would be super helpful!
Sincerely,
Russel