a summary of my findings on how to hop across the gap by plane, and an update on price. includes the possibly obvious-to-some answers i wanted a month ago.. basically an idiots´guide on flying panama-quito (like me), or i assume a similar process, to colombia.

first of all you need to book your own passenger flight, through ´copa air´ or similar. do this on the web. if you can get a date at the beginning of the week, all the better, because customs in quito aren´t open at weekends, so won´t allow you to pick up your bike then. Book a PM flight. This allows you the time in the morning to get the bike to girag at the ´terminal de carga´and do all the paperwork, then get over to the passenger terminal, which can take a little while on the gravelly road, even by taxi.

Have photocopies of your passport, driver´s licence, bike ´permiso´ for panama, bike registration document or ´title´, and any other official shi_te you have. On the day of your flight, drive on over to the well signposted cargo terminal of panama tocumen airport -that´s the international one, not the national one.. which is half an hour away or less from pan city centre. The guys who work there take a 2 hr lunch break, so try and get there early-ish. When you get there ask where Girag is -that´s pronounced shie-rag, not hirag, or with a hard ´g´ at the beginning.

BRING CASH. they do not accept any cards. at the time of writing the cost for my klr650 was $750.85, including all tax +everything. I got the impression it was a fixed price- although they weighed my bike, they had already told me the price without even seeing it, so as far as i know, a GS or even heavier (is there such a thing?) would be the same. Have less than half a tank of petrol when you arrive -a fifth of a tank or even less is ideal. otherwise you may have to drain some.

I had to remove all my soft luggage, but i do not know the score for touratech panniers or similar aluminium hard boxes. my ´top box´ (a milk crate) stayed on, however, and i packed things like tools in there before they wrapped it up tightly with industrial cling film. write down the date-time that the bike will arrive.

Allow them to pry the cash out of your sweaty hand. It will be very, very sweaty . they´ll call you a taxi to the passenger terminal. mine cost two dollars. then your just get on your flight like any other. one note on this-muggins here forgot that flying in a plane is actually a process that adheres to strict regulations regarding what you can take in your hand luggage... a couple of weeks after the england-usa bomb threat, no less... idiot.
two safety flares, a penknife, some electrical tape and a leatherman later
and i´m very F_ing surprised that i got on the flight at all. so shove it all in your main baggage.

the bike arrives two or three days later, in Quito. Quito airport information took amusement in mocking me for even suggesting that a bike could be flown there from another country. Better than enduring this is to walk straight past the passenger area to the far end of the carpark -left end as you look at the airport entrance- where importation and customs are. As i say, they are only open on weekdays. As i´m writing this on a saturday, having just been to the airport and now having to go back monday, i can´t finalise the idiots´guide right now... however the black dude guard, who greets you at customs, was possibly the nicest guy in the world. He said he thought it was roughly fifty bucks total to get the thing out of there.

to be continued..

Hope your bike makes it OK! :thumbup1

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

From what I've read (no personal experience), that flight actually goes via Bogota, and is also less expensive than Quito.

Great post - but don't forget to post it all in the Shipments database too!

Link on left, under Shipping

thanks!

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Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
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Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Yes - go to Bogotá - Colombia is WELL worthwhile. Contact the Communities too for lots of local info.

__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------
Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Thanks for posting this information, it's useful. Just make sure you update it post-aduana!

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How much does a man live, after all?
Does he live a thousand days, or one only?
For a week, or several centuries?
How long does a man spend dying?
What does it mean to say “forever”? - Pablo Neruda

colombia is definitely cheaper, though i don´t have a figure on that . my passenger flight was $413 all-in, booked a week in advance. pleasantly, copa decided to upgrade me to first-class, which was hilarious! everyone in the ´president´s departure lounge´ looked at me like i´d broken in but obviously this didn´t concern me too much.

a couple of complimentary drinks later and i cared even less...

Will not having a carnet create any problems flying a bike from Equador or Columbia to Panama? All the Posts I have read would indicate that I can get my bike imported through the South America land borders with no Carnet and I know that Central America will not be a problem. Just concerned if importing into Panama by plane may create a problem with no Carnet. Also concerned about importing into Chile by plane. I do not want any problems getting my bike out of immigration in Panama or Chile.

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1 LIFE

No need for a carnet in SA/CA. Chile shouldn't be a problem either.

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John C.

I will post this on the shipment section as well !

I have just flown my bike into Quito from London. I flew it with a company called Dynamic - contact name Simon Badger. If you google them you can get their phone number, I haven't got it right now. They were really efficient. I took the bike to the packers in middlesex then they crated it. It was around 800 pounds for flight and 250 for crate. The bike arrived in two days, all intact and still with petrol in.

At the Quito customs I had to get an agent as my Spanish isn't good enough to sort it all out myself. It is possible to do it yourself as Alex (earlier post) managed to do it.

I went to the airport, got an agent, handed my passport over, gave the agent the bike information and left. Went back the next day and it took two hours to get the bike out. The warehouse boys got the bike out of the crate and re -attached my mirrors etc. At NO time was a carnet asked for. I had to pay 50 dollars for the agent and around 20 dollars for the customs fee. It all seemed quite easy.

We flew 2 motorcycles from Panama to Bogota 10 days ago. One BMW 1150GS and one Honda Varadero. First we got a price from Girag which was 480 USD for each moto, then we went to Copa and they gave us the same price which is 350 for the freight, 100 for dangerous goods, and 30 for the airway bill. But they offer to do one airway bill for both motos so we paid 700 for freight, 100 for dangerous goods and 30 for the airway bill. Total 830 for both motos. Girag has daily flights to Bogota while Copa just once or twice a week. Girag takes only cash and Copa takes Credit cards also. The tickets for us was 261 dollars for each person. In Bogota we paid 30 dollars more. There are two cargo areas in Bogota. As you get out from the airport walk on the main road towards the town. You will pass a gasoline station and the area where Girag is, is on your right hand and Copa on the left. Ofcourse once you get outside from the airport ask directions for the cargo area.
I hope this is clear enough

Antonis

Excellent info. You can disregard the questions I asked by email, you answered them here. You are moving just a bit faster than me, as I am house and dog sitting on the beach in Costa Rica at the moment. It's a tough job.

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Andy Tiegs
https://new.horizonsunlimited.com/ts...lsouth-america