daniel chigunwe
Business Writer
Airports Company of Zimbabwe has significantly increased security measures at the Victoria Falls International Airport in response to a bomb threat received last week.
The ACZ announced the heightened security measures, which are categorised as Level 3 and exceed the usual baseline level.
The increased security aims to mitigate potential risks and ensure the safety of both passengers and airport personnel.
Under enhanced procedures, only passengers with valid travel documents and airport staff will be allowed into the terminal building.
Stricter access control will be implemented at the main entrance.
All staff are now required to display their identification passes visibly at all times while the international terminal’s front drop-off and pick-up zone will be temporarily closed.
Passengers will undergo secondary screening at boarding gates and all checked baggage will be physically searched.
In addition, the police will be deployed within the terminal building.
The domestic terminal’s main entrance will be temporarily locked while passengers meeting or greeting arriving passengers should wait outside the terminal building.
The staff car park will be closed, and staff vehicles will be relocated to the main car park.
Security patrols will be supplemented with armed police or army personnel while all departing passengers will be searched and the screening process will be closely monitored.
Unaccompanied baggage and mishandled baggage will not be permitted.
The Level 3 security measures will remain in effect until a comprehensive security risk assessment and evaluation are completed.
The bomb scare temporarily shut down Victoria Falls Airport last Friday, forcing President Mnangagwa to cancel a planned address at a conference on renewable energy.
President Mnangagwa was due to address the conference in the morning, but “had to suspend his trip to allow for investigations that are already underway,” his spokesman George Charamba said.
On Monday, the Government confirmed the arrest of a South African man, Cuan Reed Govender, 26, who is believed to have sent a bomb alert email, according to media reports.
Online Reporter