Warning to infrequent travellers

Costly penalties are usually imposed on air travellers who request changes to their schedules, asking for alternative flight times or postponements.

Now, it so happens that the Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) lists Lanseria Airport in their booking “communiques” (notices to prospective patrons) as a “Johannesburg” flight destination. Considering the position of the international traveller or tourist this is fair enough as, for all practical purposes, Lanseria Airport is only a stone’s throw from Johannesburg.

Local travellers, especially infrequent, unsuspecting local travellers, are duped by this description of Lanseria Airport as a Johannesburg flight destination, and may fall into the trap of inadvertently reporting at OR Tambo Airport (in Johannesburg) for their flight, instead of reporting at Lanseria Airport where their mistake is then pointed out by airport personnel, thus incurring costly penalties (amounting to thousands of rands) in order to effect an (emergency) alternative flight arrangement.

This practice, although legal and administratively above board by Acsa, comes across as a subtle way of unethically making money out of innocent, naive local travellers, in spite of the boring and worn out old adage of “buyer beware” incumbent on such clients and customers.

The average local patron and infrequent traveller hailing from Krugersdorp or Hammanskraal will never in his or her right mind consider Lanseria Airport as a Johannesburg flight destination. An investigation into the amounts raised over the years as penalties by Acsa on passengers caught in this trap may be required.

PJS