#SiemensAirDrop: Travellers from Joburg to Cape Town encouraged to exchange baggage allowance for water

©Ruslan Nassyrov via 123RF

Keshin Govender, head of communications for Siemens Southern and Eastern Africa, says the severity of the crisis inspired them to do something. “Every year Gautengers go to Cape Town for their holidays. If you consider that the daily per person water allocation is 87 litres, this places a tremendous additional strain on the city.”

Putting unused kilogrammes to good use

During a one-day activation at OR Tambo and Cape Town International airports, travellers can participate by having their luggage weighed at the Siemens AirDrop stand, located in the check-in hall opposite the self-service check-in counters (directly next to ACSA Info Desk at OR Tambo). Any travellers whose luggage is five (or more) kilos under the weight limit will be able to ‘exchange’ their unused kilograms for litres of water that will be delivered to Cape Town on their behalf.

“By simply exchanging unused luggage kilos for water, we hope to ‘airlift’ around 5,000 litres (five tonnes) of drinking water to the city in a matter of hours,” says Govender.

The flight route between Johannesburg and Cape Town is one of the busiest in the world, with over 4.4 million passengers flying it every year. Many passengers don’t use their full baggage allowance (ranging from 23 to 32 kilograms, depending on the airline). Business travellers often only take carry-on luggage, and even some holidaymakers pack light in order to do some shopping down in the Cape.

Guilt-free Jozi water

Upon arrival in Cape Town, passengers can either collect their guilt-free Jozi water to use during their stay, or they can opt to leave it at the collection point at Cape Town International Airport. The AirDrop collection stand will be in the arrivals area, opposite Woolworths. Uncollected water will be donated to Gift of the Givers.

The Siemens AirDrop illustrates the constant need for new and innovative solutions. “Only through ingenuity can we overcome the constraints of outdated and wasteful methods. AirDrop is an example of what can be accomplished if we apply this type of thinking to all industries across the country,” says Govender.

Govender says the Siemens AirDrop is a good example of how South Africans can do something for fellow citizens

* Siemens would like to clarify that the AirDrop experiment taking place on Friday 15 December is based on a voucher system and that passengers will not physically be checking in water when the fly from Johannesburg to Cape Town. Siemens AirDrop is a one-day social experiment to create awareness and see how quickly we can get five tonnes of water from Johannesburg to Cape Town using flights that are already scheduled. For the purposes of this experiment, Siemens is using a voucher system: passengers with enough unused (5kg or more) luggage will receive a voucher – not a five-litre bottle of water. It is on a first come first serve basis, there are 1,000 vouchers available. Siemens has pre-transported the water to Cape Town, and when passengers arrive they can either collect their water to use whilst in Cape Town, or Siemens will donate the water to Gift of the Givers. This is a social experiment to see what is possible, not a call to action.