Contingency plans are in place for any teething problems when the departure portion of Cape Town International Airport’s new R1,6bn central terminal opens this Saturday, November 7.

This is the word from airport management who say that for the past few months, airport staff, airlines, relevant government agencies and retailers have been given repeated familiarisation tours to get to know their new working environment. Airport manager, Deon Cloete, says a “dry-run” on October 22 had “no show-stoppers”. It involved testing all equipment and operational processes.  Some 160 “pretend” passengers were subjected to 18 different scenarios, testing things like way finding, equipment, reliability of systems and trolley movement. All airlines operating from CPT and other stakeholders had an opportunity to test their systems and processes. The functionality of a new fully automated baggage system has been tested for several months. Airport staff training will continue until two days before the opening.  Airport spokesperson, Deidre Hendricks, says clearly identifiable airport staff will be carrying information booklets on the day of the opening to help orientate passengers. The old departures terminal will close this week and eventually become the new airside section of the domestic arrivals terminal by March 2010. The temporary domestic departures tent that was used during the construction process will be removed by mid-December. The arrivals will remain the same for domestic and international passengers, but will be linked to the new central terminal building in March next year. A second R394m parkade with 4 000 bays will be opened in phases from December. Additional aircraft parking stands costing R60m and all air bridges will be fully operational in January. A new R30m consolidated car-rental facility will open in February. A new public transport plaza in front of the new terminal and a R120m road upgrade will be finished by March. What can passengers expect from Saturday? * A common check-in area for departing domestic and international pax on the second floor with 120 check-in desks and 20 self-service kiosks.
* An elevated drop-off zone in front of the check-in area.
* A central security screening point for all departing pax.
* A 200m-long domestic departures hall (triple the size of the current one). 
* Domestic departures on the upper level leading to air bridges and on the lower level for busing pax to remote aircraft.
* Five R25m new air bridges for domestic departures, of which only two will be operational by November 7, with the remainder partially functional in the weeks to follow.
* A R103m automated baggage-sorting system.
* 30 shops and restaurants occupying a total of 1 080sqm
* A viewing deck and restaurants on the mezzanine level. Tips you should give travellers:

* If you’re meeting a passenger, proceed to the current international or domestic arrival terminals.
* The route for domestic car hire has changed. When returning to drop off your vehicle, make use of the current drop-off road called Central Boulevard to return your car. Look for the directional signage. This is a temporary inconvenience until March 2010.
* Passengers with special needs should contact their airlines in advance as well as the landside airport hotline on (021) 935-3737.
* Domestic pax should arrive at least one hour 30minutes and international pax two hours 30minutes before departure.