Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) has refuted claims that as many as 75 000 of the 450 000 tourists expected next month for the 2010 FIFA World Cup could have their bags snatched before making it to the baggage carousel.

Last month, South African Airways CEO Siza Mzimela, who was previously the head of South African Express, told Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises that airlines were battling to bring luggage pilfering under control. The airline has had to contend with two out of every 1 000 bags handled being pilfered, which was higher than international averages.

The figure was brought down to below 1,5 bags per 1 000 last year, but has risen this year.

Some 25% of luggage handling staff are dishonest, 25% are honest and the rest are corruptible.

Mzimela said South African Express was changing luggage handlers every six months because they turned to crime after a short period on the job. “After four, five months, they are already part of the problem.”

Training organisation BizTech CEO Liza van Wyk says that, although these figures are shocking, at least Parliament and the Competition Commission (which has scheduled hearings on high internal air fares during the Soccer World Cup) are acting to improve matters. “Globally, travelling can be a nightmare. Research just released by global mobile phone travel organiser World Mate has shown that air- ports usually [account for] the worst experiences for most travellers,” affirms Van Wyk.

Internationally, a third of travellers have expe- rienced flight delays or cancellations. World Mate also found that 13% of users complained of lost, delayed or damaged luggage.

These incidents seem most likely to happen if there is a connecting flight, which, for business travellers, is most of the time.

Airport security is also a major headache for honest travellers, with 11% of World Mate travel- lers complaining of “unpleasant run-ins with airport security through no fault of their own”.

Acsa group communications manager Solomon Makgale told Engineering News in a telephonic interview that the company acknowledged that, although the situation had improved, baggage theft was still a challenge.

To deal with this, Acsa has introduced a number of interventions to manage baggage pilferage, including changing the access permit system, which demarcates the airport in terms of the areas accessible to baggage handlers.

“Baggage handlers are not allowed to use mobile phones, as they were using them to contact acquaintances to claim the baggage and they are expected to wear the uniform at all times,” says Makgale.

He adds that Acsa has employed a private security company to monitor the baggage area and that the police are on hand to provide support and, from time to time, to conduct sting operations.

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