SA cargo moves freely on London route – so far

No flights cancelled yet
ALAN PEAT
THE HIGH-SCALE security alert at British airports – particularly the main passenger and cargo hub for SA at Heathrow Airport in London – seemed to have little effect on air cargo to-and-from SA. Colin Baldwin of Swissport, which handles both British Airways (BA) and Virgin Atlantic Airways cargo at Johannesburg International Airport (JIA), suggested that, on the Friday that followed the alert, things were relatively quiet on the cargo front. No flights to-or-from SA had been cancelled that he knew of and the two airlines had not imposed any additional or noticeable security precautions after the bomb scare. “Things look relatively OK,” he told FTW. “But both BA and Virgin have always X-ray scanned every single thing that they carry out of London – and this has not changed. “Things at Heathrow have always been very strict, and BA has always had a very stringent policy on its “known shippers” concept.” So, he suggested, high cargo security was already in place before the incident that shocked the aviation industry – an intention to suicide bomb 10 aircraft from London to the US. The plot was foiled, say the authorities, and 21 people have been arrested in connection with the threat. SAA was also closely monitoring the London situation, head of SAA corporate communications Jacqui O’Sullivan told FTW, with the airline sending out regular daily bulletins on the various restrictions affecting passengers. SAA Cargo, meantime, had not been requested to implement any special or added security measures for freight moving in and out of London’s Heathrow Airport, she added. However, SAA would comply with any call to increase security beyond its current situation – where it followed the British authorities’ already stringent security measures. This included the need for all cargo to be scanned. Safcor Panalpina sales and marketing director Bruce Thoresson however warned of the possible domino effect of the security alert. “Although the airlines named as the primary targets in this latest terror scare carry little or no cargo for our South African clients, disruptions in cargo movements may occur in the coming days as a “knock-on” effect of these cancellations and tightened or altered security precautions. “Safcor Panalpina will monitor the situation and issue further notifications in this regard should the need arise,” he told FTW.