Flying With my Motorbike from UK to Australia

[iIIi daan iIIi]

Does anyone know where I can book a flight From the UK to Austrailia where I can take my motorbike on the flight with me.

Been looking for a while but not having much luck.

Cheers.

[pecha72]

It is possible, but the bike will be sent as freight. Not cheap to send by air to the other side of the globe. You need to contact a freight agent, or the airlines cargo depts directly (some of them will forward you to an agent anyway) to get quotes. I'd guess it will cost at least 1500-2000 euros one way.

And do note, that taking a foreign bike temporarily to Oz, you'll need the carnet. And regardless of the type of import, or where the vehicle is from, it will have to be 'clean as new' to pass a quarantine inspection (google AQIS to find out the details). In short, you better have a long holiday in Oz, for sending your own bike to make any sense. If you don't, then I'd advice to consider renting.

[iIIi daan iIIi]

Thanks for the advice. I'm guessing that rough price will be for the bike alone. Not both me and the bike.

My bike is less then a year old so it's already in good conditition. Would need a proper scrub though.

I was planning on going for 2 years. Would like to travel Aus on a bike. Maybe its better to buy a bike out there then sell it after that time.

[jacinthemilton]

It will be expensive to take your motor bike with you on a flight. But if you are willing to pay for that then there are airlines out there that can help you with the booking.

[Tony P]

Talk with Giles at James Air Cargo
Motorcycle Shipping, Transport and Freight

They are air freight agents who make a speciality of shipping motos. They deal with crating, paperwork etc. You just ride the moto to their warehouse very close to Heathrow. They do the rest.

They did let a Korean friend down over paperwork entering USA (not aware of new regulations) that destroyed his RTW having ridden from Seoul to UK - but I accept that was an unfortunate 'one-off'.

The moto will go on a freight plane - you will have to buy a ticket and fly on a passenger plane.

[pecha72]

I´m not an expert on their regulations, but I think importing for 2 years might not be possible on a carnet... so it would probably have to be a permanent import, means you pay all taxes & duties. But that is just guessing, you´ll have to find out, how it goes officially.

　
If you seriously want to freight the bike there, the distance is so long, that I think you´d be able to send it a lot cheaper by sea. I´ve actually sent my DL650 from Sydney to Helsinki by sea, and paid under 700 euros total, that includes even the costs at the receiving end. Ocean freight itself was only about 500 euros.

　
But this was over 4 years ago, and sending from Europe to elsewhere could cost more than sending on the same route to Europe. Sounds funny, but the exact costs depend on so many things, and Europe is expensive. And all in all (counting from the date, when I left the bike with the shipper, to the date, when I had it on the road again in my home country) it took about 2 months to send by sea, whereas air freight would have taken about 2 days!

　
The company that I used was Tradelanes (in Melbourne, easily found with Google).. I´m not sure, if they´d be able to help you out if sending the other way, but might not hurt to ask.

[iIIi daan iIIi]

Cool. Thanks for your help.

Something to think about.

Cheers.

[ajmac]

just flew my bike home from uk to perth,australia it was around 1600 squids with james cargo.my pannier box got wrecked and no one seems to take responsability but it was quick and yes i would actually use them again.
oz quarantine is a pain and it will take a couple of runs to the airport to free your scrubbed and spotless steed.
carnet is for one year.
better buy one here and sell it on the way out!!(they are exxy compared to the rest of the world here too especially now with the exchange rate).
message me if you need more info.