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Cape Town - Passengers arriving from overseas at
South African airports for the soccer World Cup will not have to go through
immigration formalities once they arrive here.
Thanks to an advance passenger processing agreement with the
multinational IT specialists Sita (originally known as the Société
Internationale des Télécommunications Aéronautiques - the company no longer
uses this long name), visitors' details will be checked before they board
the plane in their home country.
"Once everything is in order they will not have to go through any
immigration checks on their arrival in South Africa," said Khodr Akil, vice-
president for Sita Middle East and Africa, in a statement released on
Wednesday.
"This will save us the expense of processing and returning
unauthorised visitors. We have already received the agreement and
cooperation of the many airlines who fly into our country and are satisfied
that the system will be up and running in time for the World Cup and, of
course, for many years after."
The Sita system will facilitate the arrival and departure of up to
500 000 football fans next year while enhancing security and reducing both
administration and turnaround costs for airlines, Akil said. In addition,
airlines can expect to pay no more fines for transporting incorrectly
documented or otherwise inadmissible travellers to South Africa because the
APP checks will have already been carried out before boarding.
He added that this border management solution has been tried and tested
in other parts of the world, notably during the 2000 Olympic Games in
Australia.
"Essentially it extends a country's border to the point of departure as
the decision whether to allow entry to a passenger is made at the time of
check-in when airlines receive immediate notification to allow, or not to
allow, a passenger to board", Akil said.
"For the government of the Republic of South Africa, eliminating the
need to turn people back after they have arrived in the country without the
appropriate entry documents will streamline administration and enhance
security," he concluded.
- I-Net Bridge