I've been researching options for getting my bike from Anchorage to Magadan. I saw on the HUBB that Vladivostok Air will be starting passenger service between Anchorage and Magadan in July of 2008. I spoke with a Vladivostok Air representative in Seattle, (206) 443-1614, and he told me that the airline is in negotiations with cargo companies in Anchorage and will have chosen a company to handle cargo shipments to Russia by the end of March. The cargo will be shipped in passenger planes (737s I believe), and the possibility of flying a motorcycle as cargo will be left up to the cargo company they select. Vladivostok Air does fly motorcycles in their passenger planes currently (from Japan to Vladivostok). Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Vladivostok Air press release:

Newsroom | Press releases

Valdivostok Air testing for Anchorage flights:

For passengers | News

This is great news after Magadan Air finished flying the route few years back.
We'll see what comes out of it.

Are you saying that without Vladivostok Air there is no way to get bikes from Magadan to Anchorage (or tuther way round) by air.......
Does anyone have any info on possible modes (by sea) or routes....what do people do at the mo - fly it to Japan and then Japan to Anchorage.
Cheers
Char

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Be scared that it may never begin.......

Yes, there is no service to Magadan currently. Magadan Airlines is a small carrier serving the far east of Russia and used to have flights from Anchorage to Magadan which stopped sometime around 2003 or 2004. Since then, some have been successful shipping by sea to Magadan from Vladivostok (and some unsucessful). To ship across to there, it seems the most common way to get to Vlad is by ferry from Korea. On the North American side, most have been shipping to west coast USA and riding up, due to cost and frequency of service options. There is some great info on the site by Phil who shipped his truck from Vlad to Korea to US. Going there, Bill Shockley air freighted his bike across to Vlad last spring.

I've been in contact with Brant at ITCAlaska - they are an agent that deals with the tickets etc for flights from Vlad to Anc. He'll be getting more info later on (ie. after 25th Feb) regarding prices, taxes, bike as cargo etc.

I'll update when I hear more from him.

Okay, so that answers the question. Cheers Mountain Man.
Kinvig - wicked! I shall keep my eye on this thread! Pukka.
Char

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Hi guys. I have the same problem. Planning RTW start March 8th from Czech Republic, with an expected arrival in Magadan during the 1st or 2nd week of June. Maybe will be possible to get to Kamchatka over Sea. Knows somebody how to get me and bike from Kamchatka to North America? Best to Anchorage?

Van-

This Vladivostok Air possibility is the most promising I've found so far. Unfortunately, they won't be starting service until July, so it wouldn't work for you. I've also looked into cargo flights to Petropavlovsk, Kamchakta and crossing the Okhotsk Sea by boat, but have run into dead ends. Lynden Air Cargo specializes in getting heavy equipment to places in the Arctic and might be able to fly a bike to Magadan, but the pricetag could be really high- higher than I can pay at least.

Lynden Air Cargo: Home Page

If I can't get to Magadan, I'll probably fly the bike to Japan and take a 2-day ferry from Toyama/Fushiki to Vlad: $360 (cheap seats) for passenger and $150 for bike:

BUSINESSINTOURSERVICE // Tourist Company

Here's another ferry link:

Russia Tour, EURASTOURS-SPECIALIZED FOR TRAVEL TO RUSSIA & THE EAST EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Or have the bike flown to Korea. Here's a useful post by Boxer2V regarding that option (Jan. 08):

If you air freight your bike to Seoul, you will not be allowed to ride it out of the airport because the only access roads to Incheon International are Expressways ( Toll Roads) and , unfortunately, motorcycles are not allowed on expressways in Korea.

Previous travellers have had to freight their bikes out of the airport to the nearest highway or direct to Sokcho to catch the Vladivostok ferry.

If you ship your bike to Pusan however, you can look forward to a pleasant ride up the coast to Sokcho. ( avoiding expressways).

Good luck.
________

**see entire thread here:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ght=vlad+korea

Kingvig- I'm looking forward to hearing what you find out from ITC Alaska.
I'll be talking with Vladivostok Air in late March and will post my findings here.

Marcus

Hi Roadsacallin,

If my plan to travel from China to Anchorage falls through then paln B is to ship from Vladivostock to Japan and then air freight the bike to Anchorage.

Do you have any idea of costs (passenger and bike), and how frequent the flights are from Japan to Anchorage. Also how long does the flight take?

Any info would be much appreciated

regards

Until Vlad Air comes through to Magadan...the cheapest and most reliable is to fly/ship bike to korea and have it trucked to Dong Chung Ferry...arrive in Zurubina(South of Vladivosotok) and ride up...
Russian customs in Zurubina are infinitely easier to deal with than Vlad.

Your cost of shipping should include possibility of delays when you arrive, cost of hotels, bribes etc. in Russia.

If you need a contact to ship from the West Coast to Korea, reliably boat/air...PM me.

HTH

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93 BMW K75s
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VladAir recently selected Panalpina as their cargo carrier for the flights out of Anchorage. The problem with putting a motorcycle (dangerous goods) onto a passenger plane (the VladAir flights to Anchorage are all passenger planes) is that we as individuals are not "known shippers". The Panalpina guys are looking into options like getting a special inspection of the bike, but they think with all the new regulations for shipping dangerous goods on passenger planes, we might be out of luck. I'm leaning towards flying the bike to Korea.

Legally and according to international air cargo standards, used motorbikes can't be shipped on passenger planes as they're considered dangerous good. No matter how much fluid you drain...that is the case...
They have to be flown via cargo planes...

Back in the day, some of the Russian carriers would put the bike on and not worry about it...but if Vlad Air hired a freight forwarder like Panalpina to deal with the air cargo portion...those days are no longer.

Now I wonder if Vlad Air would consider your bike "accompanying luggage" if you were a passenger on the plane? Technically it violates international air cargo standards, BUT the Russians sometimes are Russian

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edde
93 BMW K75s
www.motoedde.com

When i arrived in magadan in 2006...already knowing that the flights never started in the 2006 season, i was able to get a passenger flight to Vladivostok with my bike as luggage!!

The Russians are pretty relaxed about most rules.....

See The bikes on the plane on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

"Legally and according to international air cargo standards, used motorbikes can't be shipped on passenger planes as they're considered dangerous good. No matter how much fluid you drain...that is the case...
They have to be flown via cargo planes..."

Hmm, I'm flying my bike with Air Transat from Montreal to London next month...and it will be a passenger plane. According to Motorcycle Express, the broker, I don't even have to fully empty the tank...

SORRY, don't want to hijack this thread here...

I've flown two BMWs recently from Oz to LAX separately - on the same planes that I also travelled on. No problems with Qantas at all.

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Margaret
"twenty grand and twenty miles don't make you a biker"
www.ridingtoextremes.com