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Travellers still facing delays at OR Tambo

Source: Tourisn Update, 06/09/2016


A shortage of officials to man the immigration desks at OR Tambo
International Airport is continuing to cause delays more than two
months after the capturing of biometric data was rolled out at the
airport.


Biometric capturing was introduced on July 1 and includes capturing
fingerprints and scanning passengers` eyes.


"I am aware that under these constraints, the officials at the airport
are trying their best to speed up the processing of visitors and
immigration management / supervisors at the airport are also stepping
in to process passengers," said Chris Zweigenthal, Chief Executive of
Airlines Association of Southern Africa.. "Where significant backups
and queues exist, they dispense with the collection of biometrics and
process passengers accordingly."


While Tourism Update`s readers have reported queues of between two and
four hours at immigration, Thabo Mokgola, from Department of Home
Affairs, told Tourism Update that they had not been notified of any
delays experienced.


Leanne Zahn, from Ngwe Safari, told Tourism Update that clients
arriving on Monday from London, were in a queue for over two hours. At
the time, there were four immigration officers on duty.


Another reader said the delay coming through immigration could be
anything from 40 minutes to four hours. The reader added that long
delays occur when there are only three desks open and a large number
of flights has landed.


According to Zweigenthal, Airports Company South Africa is also very
vigilant on the ground and trying to find ways to assist immigration
to clear the queues. "Airline management and handling agents are also
present and offer assistance where possible."


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