Airport security upgrades draw positive industry response

KEVIN MAYHEW THE AIRFREIGHT industry is generally complimentary about the security improvements and their impact at airports following the recent multi-million rand security upgrade by Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA). Fast International GSA managing director, Gary Murphy, went so far as to say that the new measures had made life a little “uncomfortable” for them. “However, the nature of security is that it must not be comfortable. So the advance applications for access and other features of the new order are elements we must learn to live with. One year ago, we had a real problem, when we lost an entire pallet from the airport,” he explained. Tami Novak, sole owner of charter brokers Aviair Freight Logistics, says they are content to see that security for access to terminal buildings has been stepped up and ACSA is doing a reasonable job. “We provide our own security so are not entirely dependent on that of ACSA. But there has been a definite improvement which helps our efforts,” she said. Jeanette Primrose, the sales and marketing manager of Clearing Support Services (CSS), says they have noticed a big improvement when trying to get access to their clients. CSS is a specialist software provider to the freight forwarding industry.