O.R. Tambo International Airport recognises staff in their role in drug busts

General Manager of O.R Tambo International Airport, Bongiwe Pityi, and Comair Operations Director, Martin Louw, were at the airport at 7am yesterday to meet the three colleagues and wish them ‘bon voyage’ as they headed to King Shaka International Airport to attend the King Shaka International Airport premier stakeholder awards event, taking place in Durban tonight.  

Four of the seven colleagues were flown to Cape Town to participate in and experience Cape Town International Airport’s premier stakeholder awards event as part of the same recognition approach by O.R. Tambo International Airport Management.

As part of the recognition, Comair has sponsored air tickets for the three colleagues to enjoy the King Shaka International Airport Awards gala dinner evening that is an annual highlight for the aviation industry players in Kwazulu-Natal.

In recognition of the drug bust success all seven colleagues will receive their awards at the O.R Tambo International Airport edition of Airports Company South Africa’s annual stakeholder awards event on Friday.

Each of Airports Company South Africa’s nine airports, honours industry players, airlines and aviation service providers who have excelled in service excellence within the South African aviation industry, at these premier stakeholder awards.

Bongiwe Pityi said, “These men and women have been working at the airport for years and in some instances have put their lives on the line for the benefit of other passengers. Today, it is their turn to be our passengers and we are delighted that Comair has partnered with us to provide three of the seven colleagues with this opportunity.  

It was important that we afforded all seven colleagues, an opportunity to travel to Cape Town and Durban respectively, for the two premier stakeholder awards events. In this way, they get to experience how our other airports celebrate the contributions of the stakeholders within their airport communities,” said Pityi.

Speaking to the personnel before their departure, Pityi commended the colleagues for the ethos that underpins their work: excellence that is not a once-off activity but a continuous striving for a safe and secure airport.

“I should also note that as we recognise these men and women for their role in securing our airport we have started to see positive impacts from the work of a joint operations committee that brings together Airport Management, the South African Police Service (SAPS) and other law enforcement agencies, local government, airport security contractors and other suppliers.

“In addition to tangible changes, we are also seeing further lifting of morale among all airport staff as they see the benefits of the intensified security strategy flow through. 

“While the SAPS has responsibility for airport security, all of the other stakeholders are providing essential contributions to supporting the efforts of the police. In addition to the breakthroughs made by the SAPS into airport-related crime, a variety of behind-the-scenes measures are combining to further strengthen the security situation at the airport,” said Pityi.