OR Tambo gears up for Cup
There will be increased metro police visibility at OR Tambo International Airport to ensure passenger safety during the Confederations Cup, the airport said on Wednesday.
"We are working very closely with the SA Police Service (and) the Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni metro police departments to ensure that passengers travelling around the airport are safe," airport general manager Chris Hlekane said.
He was briefing the media on the airport's readiness for the Confederations Cup and the FIFA 2010 World Cup.
Asked if extra measures would be implemented to avoid a repeat of previous incidents where travellers had been followed from the airport and then hijacked and robbed of their belongings, Hlekane said "there has been progress" in that regard.
Without going into detail, he said: "I can confirm there has been progress. Our officers and the SAPS are working on that... it is at a very sensitive stage," he said, adding that there had not been recent reported incidents.
While the Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg metro police officers control traffic flow in and around the vicinity of the airport, 1000 SA Police Service (SAPS) officers currently stationed at the airport and Airports Company SA security officials would continue their work as usual, with no additional members deployed.
To avoid congestion, Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) delegates and teams arriving in the country for the Confederations Cup would be facilitated separately, Hlekane said.
So far, teams from New Zealand, Italy and the US had arrived in the country using the OR Tambo International Airport.
Iraq arrived through the Cape Town International Airport.
Spain was expected to land at the airport on Wednesday, with Egypt and Brazil landing the following day.
A portable unit was to be set up at check-in for the teams and FIFA guests, Hlekane said.
There would also be increased support around luggage-handling to avoid pilfering, the airport's head of security Jason Tshabalala said.
"The number of bags that have been tampered with has dropped drastically (from 36 incidents to five incidents per day)," Tshabalala said.
Airport announcements would be made in languages including Spanish, Portuguese and Mandarin "based on what airlines were arriving at the airport", said Hlekane.
The number of meter taxis operating at the airport had been increased from 70 to 100 vehicles.
The Confederations Cup kicks off on Sunday.
