Airport security is vital, say businessmen

The Airports Company of South Africa (Acsa), South African Airways (SAA) and the South African Police Service must ensure that the chances of another airport robbery are minimised, the South African Chamber of Business said on Monday.

"We believe that airport security should feature high on the order of priorities for SAA, Acsa and the police. We trust that this consideration will be the foremost subject of the meetings that are to take place between these three agencies," executive president Deidre Penfold said on Monday, following an armed robbery at Johannesburg International Airport over the weekend.

At 10.30am on Saturday, two men armed with AK-47 assault rifles went to an SAA aircraft, held up guards and police and helped themselves to bags of currency which had been flown in from Britain.

At the same time, the rest of the gang was holding up guards at one of the gates. All of the men fled, no shots were fired and nobody was injured.

Police said they were investigating whether the theft was an inside job.

On Monday afternoon, Acsa said details of how the robbery occurred were unknown.

"Details around how the incident occurred, how much was stolen and who did it are under police investigation," Acsa spokesperson Solomon Makgale said.

Meanwhile, airport general manager Chris Hlekane said: "In the interim, we have sensitised our security stakeholders and have placed them on high alert".

Hlekane said aviation security was their key priority area and that security measures in place at all Acsa's 10 airports countrywide were adequate. - Sapa