Note that when carrying bicycles by air they are usually accepted “limited release”. Essentially this means that they are taken on the plane at your own risk so they are not covered by the airline if they get damaged in-flight. Each airline has its own minimum packaging requirements so check the airlines website for details. For the flight from Heathrow to Vietnam I packaged the bike up in a soft padded bicycle bag. I removed the wheels and and rear rack/mudgaurd. The frame and fork then just fitted in the bag. The rack and mudgaurd occupied the space of the rear triangle with the mudgaurd extending up to the saddle. I cut some aluminium tube to make dummy axles which were clamped in place using the quick release skewer. This protected the frame from being crushed with the wheels removed. I removed the front and rear disks and placed them against the hard back of the pannier as they are easily bent. The wheels fitted in the wheel pockets of the bike bag. I covered the frame in foam central heating pipe lagging using the larer size designed for 22mm pipes. I removed the driveside crank/chainset. I covered this in bubble rap and cable tied to the rear of the frame. I used my sleeping bag and roll mat as further padding around the bike. Once I had rebuilt the bike on arrival the soft cycle bag was easily folder up and posted back to the UK. I used 1 pannier as hand luggage. Two were bound up together and went as hold baggage. The third was empty without the sleeping bag and was slid down the side of the bike box. Bangkok – Dhaka, Bangladesh: The cycle shop that rebuilt my wheel supplied a cardboard bicycle box left over from a recent delivery. I disassembled the bike in much the same way as I had to fit it in my soft cycle bag. Delhi – Almaty: Air Astana accept bicycles unboxed provided the handle bars are turned sideways, the pedals removed and the oily bits cleaned. I removed the front brake disk. The rear is quite well protected by the rear carrier and ex-box cable entry for the Rohloff hub gear. I cut up a couple of card board boxes to cover the brake levers on the handlebars. Otherwise the bike remained intact. I used 1 pannier as hand luggage. The other three went in the hold separately as Air Astana do not make a surcharge for more than 1 piece of checked in baggage. They charge for excess baggage based on weight only.
Tashkent – Masshad: I was able to obtain a bicycle box from a cycle hire shop that had recently taken deliveries of new bikes. It was a bit on the small side so the front forks had to come off to save a few cm on length, but otherwise packaging was as before. Cautionary note on getting to the airport: Taxi’s in many countries are saloons/sedans’s and also have Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) or Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) tanks in the boot. This means that it is not possible to fold the seats down to accommodate large rigid bike boxes. It will be necessary to fit the bike in its packaging across the back seat. Make the box as small as possible and if possible taper the ends in at the top as cars often curve in towards the roof. In Bangkock I was unable to get the bike box into any of the local taxis. In the end I had along tut-tut ride with it laid flat across the seats and hanging out the back.
Flights
flew from London Heathrow to Ho-Chi-Minh city direct on Vietnam Airlines. I booked my ticket using the airlines website. At the time of booking I was offered additional baggage allowance for £10. I took up this option which was well worth while. I was 2 kg over the additional limit but the airline waived the fee. Provided you are justly slightly over the weight limit and you are honest and present all luggage at the time of check-in, I have found this quite common. Vietnam Airlines do not automatically make a bicycle surcharge. However, it does count towards you overall weight limit so you may well need to buy some excess baggage allowance. Doing this in advance will be much cheaper than on departure and save time and stress at check-in.
I flew from Bangkok to Dhaka on Biman Bangladesh. The baggage allowance was quite generous and I was not charged any excess. I watched the plane being unloaded. The method was quite haphazard. There was no unloading belt. Bags were being dropped onto tyres on the Tarmac. These were then placed a few at a time onto a flat trolley designed for containers rather than loose bags so too many and they would just fall off. Unloading was consequently slow. However, the bike must have been unloaded with more care as the box was undamaged and clearly had NOT been dropped out of the aircraft hold as I had seen with other bags.
I flew from Delhi to Almaty on Air Astana. They make a bicycle surcharge per sector. This also buys you additional weight allowance. The only problem I had was with the handling agent Air Astana employ at Delhi airport. They insisted it was the rules that bikes must be boxed despite me having the email from Air Astana confirming the bike booking and stating that the minimum requirement was handlebars sideways, pedals off and oily bits clean. After insisting on seeing the duty manager the bike was wrapped in plastic and taken. Delhi airport is always stressful whichever airline you choose.
I flew from Tashkent to Masshad on Turkish Airlines. They make a bicycle surcharge per sector. This also buys you an additional weight allowance. I have used Turkish when carrying the bicycle before with no problems to report. To leave Uzbekistan it is necessary to go through passport control which was on a serious go slow at Tashkent Airport, taking about 4 mins per passenger. Other flights were delayed by the number of passengers held up in the queue. Fortunately Turkish just about managed to get away on time. On arrival at Masshad the baggage handlers thought it was a good idea to put the bike box on the normal baggage claim carousel. As it overhung somewhat and there were no barriers to prevent people putting the trolleys up close to the carousel it was bashing over peoples bags and tipping over trolleys as it went along.
Bicycle Assembly
I found a Topeak Ratchet Rocket CX mini ratchet tool with extension piece invaluable. Far better than one of the pen knife style multi tools for assembling the bike. I put a drop of lock-tite on all threads to make sure they did not come loose on the ruff roads expected during the trip. I have disassembled and reassembled my bike many times over a number of trips. I have a fairly well practised order for re-assembly and can stick to this even with an audience. I have reassembled my bike at airports and on the pavement in front of hotels. For the less confident, it may be less stressful to book a hotel/guest house ahead that has a garden/court yard or car park where the bicycle can be reassembled in peace and quiet.