Inspections apply equally to visitors and senior staff
LEONARD NEILL
A SECURITY BADGE pinned to your shirt pocket is no guarantee of a non-stop pathway through the vast SAA-Cargo warehouse at Johannesburg International Airport. That clearly applies to both visitor and senior SAA staff at the airport. No casual wave of the arm, granting the right to access is practised at this facility.
A security officer steps in your way at every entrance. The badge is inspected at close range. The wearer is scrutinised closely. Only then is the go-ahead given to proceed into the depths of the 21 000m2 warehouse complex.
“It’s the extent to which our security goes,” says SAA-Cargo’s Gideon Horn. “They can see the airline’s employees calling in here every day. But that doesn’t deter them. They are dedicated to the task of ensuring safety at the highest level.”
Backing up the officers, who provide a 24-hour manned access control into the warehouse, is a digital recording CCTV surveillance unit with dome-cameras, operating around the clock from a central office in the facility.
X-ray machines and metal detectors play their part in the security system.
The exports build up and imports come into check-in bays which are fully fitted with roller storage to ensure correct handling of all consignments. Similar facilities are available at other SAA Cargo domestic airports, says Horn.
The perishable handling area at JIA is one in which extra special attention is afforded. Cold rooms at JIA cover an area of 670m2 and are divided into five sections with storage capacity for 38 pallets or 114 tons each. Constant temperature monitoring and control is provided through the use of sophisticated sensors that safeguard the temperature levels in line with requirements.
“With our upgraded cool rooms and facilities at all major airports in this country, we have the leading edge when it comes to the handling of perishable goods for transportation to local and international destinations,” he says.
“Meeting the Perishable Products Export Control Board’s (PPECB) most stringent quality criteria ensures that the cool room facility is available to suit all needs.”
