South Africa readies its airports before teams begin to arrive for World Cup

SAfrica readies airports ahead of team arrivals

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s network of airports that has been years in the making will be tested this week as the first teams arrive for the World Cup.

Airports Company South Africa described the network Tuesday as “up there with the best.” The three main international airports are in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.

Assistant general manager Tebogo Mekgoe says Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International, where most teams and many of the estimated 300,000 fans will arrive, will have to double its capacity to 4,000 passengers per hour for peak World Cup periods.

He adss that the airport bought 53 new X-ray machines at a cost of $3.3 million to improve security.