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Lunga Biyela, News24

Cape Town - OR Tambo International airport will be able to deal with the influx of planes that will be flying into Johannesburg for the 2010 FIFA World Cup final at Soccer City on Sunday, says Acsa.

On Wednesday, scores of soccer fans missed the semi-final between Spain and Germany at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium because the newly built King Shaka International Airport was unable to handle the number of flights landing there.

Air traffic into Johannesburg for Sunday’s final is expected to be exceed the number of flights that flew to Durban.

“OR Tambo will be able to deal with the influx of flights into Johannesburg,” Acsa spokesperson Unathi Batyashe-Filis told News24, saying that the situation witnessed in Durban would not be repeated.

“We have people on the ground working for 24 hours and they will continue communicating as they have done during the duration of this World Cup.”

OR Tambo is bigger

She added that the size of OR Tambo would help in avoiding what happened at the much smaller King Shaka airport.

“We have a capacity for 180 aircraft to park… We will also make plans for planes that would require to park longer than their allocated time,” said Batyashe-Filis.

Flights heading to King Shaka from OR Tambo in Durban were still delayed on Thursday, reported Sapa.

On Wednesday, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines said it had arranged three extra flights to Johannesburg after the Dutch national football team booked their place in the final.

“This means there will be approximately 1 300 additional Oranje soccer fans that will have the chance to support their team,” the group said in a statement.

Air France will also operate an extra flight from Charles de Gaulle.