Counter Terror Gazette

Airport Security & the Big Event: from the World Cup to the 2012 Olympics

14 Jun 2010

With the FIFA World Cup set to kick off in South Africa in June and, thereafter, the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and the 2012 Olympic Games in London to look forward to, Chanize Thorpe explores what this means for the international airports involved and considers how aviation security measures will be ramped up well in advance of the opening ceremonies.

2010 FIFA World Cup

“South Africa is ready for the World Cup” was the prevailing phrase uttered by South African Airways (SAA) officials present at Durban’s INDABA tourism exhibition on 8-11 May 2010. The highly anticipated month-long event will take place between 11 June and 11 July with 64 matches to be played in the country’s ten stadiums and nine cities. The biggest crowd turnouts are expected in the Golden Triangle city stadiums of Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium, the last of the five new venues built for the tournament.

The nerves of South African Airways’ executives have been understandably strained due to the six-year long preparation for the world’s biggest football extravaganza, the global scrutiny, and the 350,000 foreign visitors who will descend upon the country using their airplanes. However, a strategic plan has been carefully mapped out covering the round-the-clock operation of SAA flights as fans (in various stages of jubilation or grief) fly from city to city to see the matches. Transport officials, especially those from Airport Company South Africa (ACSA) appear calm and prepared for the customers to descend on their airports. The confidence is due in part to the R7.2 billion (£627 million) construction of the new King Shaka International Airport (KSIA) in Durban, the R3 billion efforts to improve Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) and O.R. Tambo International Airport (ORTIA) in Johannesburg, South Africa’s major gateways for tourist traffic.

All three airports come with improved customer service and protection, such as the new Movement Control System (MCS) recently unveiled at ORTIA by Minister of Home Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. The R129 million electronic project, now being used at 33 airports across the country, is designed to act as a tool for government agencies such as Interpol who need to keep watch over illegal travellers and those conspiring to stay in South Africa well after the World Cup – and their visas – end.  There are 65 security features in place, including a built-in barcode reader linked to a central database which reveals a passengers’ status including domestic and criminal records, pictures and fingerprints. Scanning passports and visas for this information will take less than 15 seconds, is 10 times faster than the old system, and is considered more accurate than any other scanners previously used in South African airports. (More online)