O.R Tambo is Johannesburg’s main airport and is Africa’s busiest airport. It serves over 21 million passengers per year and facilities numerous international flights with a broad range of carriers. The airport was renamed in 2006 to honour a South African icon and anti-apartheid politician, Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo. Over the past few years, the airport has undergone massive new developments and improvements in infrastructure. Of course, because of the sheer number of people passing through the airport, baggage handling needs to be done as quickly and efficiently as possible. Oddly shaped bags are causing delays and jams in the handling system. As a result, to ensure smooth running, OR Tambo has now implemented new check-in baggage rules at the airport.
In a statement, International Air Transport Association (IATA) guidelines state that the new rules are aimed at preventing blockages and breakdowns in the baggage handling system caused by bags with irregular surfaces or long straps and grips. The rules applied have been under discussion for a couple of years, and were implemented on 25th March. The check-in baggage rules at OR Tambo are in accordance with many other international airports.
In short, these are the new check-in baggage rules at OR Tambo :
- Only regular-shaped bags will be allowed at check-in counters;
- This means that the bags must have at least one flat surface to be accepted on the check-in system;
- Round or irregular-shaped bags will not be allowed at check-in counters; and
- Bags with longs straps will not be allowed at check-in counters.
Should passengers try to check-in bags that don’t comply with the above regulations, they will be given the option of having their baggage wrapped.
“We very much appreciate that these new baggage rules will potentially create inconvenience or additional cost for some passengers, so this is not a step we have taken lightly,” says Kris Reddy, Assistant General Manager: Operations Services.
ACSA firmly believes that the rule change will improve the level of service to all passengers.
