Cape Town - The new Cape Town airport will open its doors for air travellers on Saturday.

This week the finishing touches are being put to the modern terminal building and for the past fortnight staff have been extremely busy with induction programmes to show everyone where everything is situated.

New security, boarding and weigh-in systems as well as a fully automated luggage system are being tested at the same time.

The rest of the R2bn-plus project - which, apart from the terminal building includes a new parking garage, road network and public transport station - will be completed in time for next year's World Cup soccer tournament, say spokespersons for the airport company, Acsa.

Great emphasis is being placed on security and more than 600 cameras have already been positioned inside the buildings and on the airport's grounds for a closed-circuit television network.

These cameras will follow some 160 passengers' luggage from the weighing-in counters, through the automated sorting system and onto the aircraft.

According to Acsa, the extensions and improvements should be adequate to meet the next five years' needs. And from November 7 the airport will be able to handle about 14m passengers a year, instead of the current 8m.

- Sake24.com

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