Passengers departing on flights from Airports Company South Africa’s (Acsa) six regional airports will no longer receive passenger boarding calls, as of July 1.
Public address microphones at domestic departures terminals and gates of the following regional airports will be switched off to reduce noise levels: Port Elizabeth International Airport; Bram Fischer International Airport (Bloemfontein); East London Airport; George Airport; Upington International Airport and Kimberley Airport.
Standard operating procedures for most domestic flights require that passengers start boarding at least 30 minutes before the scheduled departure time. Passengers are advised to check their boarding passes and the flight information display boards for boarding times.
The only instances where centralised terminal announcements will be made will be for irregular operations such as gate changes, flight time changes, security matters, system failures and customer service anomalies such as lost minors.
Senzeni Ndebele, Acsa Corporate Affairs Manager responsible for Regional Airports, said: “We believe that this is an important step in our continued effort to improve the customer service experience of passengers at our regional airports by reducing noise levels. This is in line with international best practice where airports have adopted a ‘silent airport’ policy to improve airport ambience.”
This follows the implementation of noise reduction measures taken at other airports within South Africa over the last year.
An independent customer survey commissioned by Acsa noted complaints about noise levels in airports. Acsa is following the example of many international airports across the globe that have already adopted a ‘silent airport’ policy to improve airport ambience and reduce complaints about the number and frequency of boarding calls for individual passengers who have already checked in but are seemingly a no-show.
