Germany Opens Its Doors to International Workers to Fill Staff Shortages at Country’s Airports

Such a decision, announced by the Bild am Sonntag, comes as a temporary solution in order to solve the current situation and has been taken by the Interior, Transport, and Labour Ministers, AtoZSerwisPlus.de reports.

The Coronavirus situation has caused profound damage to many industries, including air travel.

Besides, staff shortages have been among the main problems for airport operators in all European countries, including Germany, after the demand for travel has increased significantly soon after the abolishment of the majority of restrictions imposed by governments in European countries in order to contain the virus’ further spread. But the flow of international travellers is difficult to handle, according to authorities in Germany.

Although the COVID-19 restrictions have been removed in most European countries, travellers are facing several inconveniencies at European airports. Passengers across European countries are experiencing chaos after some airports already face long queues, and other similar problems, in addition to staff shortage.

Besides, photos of passengers waiting in long lines at Dusseldorf airport earlier this week brought into light the staff shortage, which has caused chaos during the summer holiday season.

In this regard, Germany’s Interior, Labour and Transport ministers have announced that they would start a joint campaign to bring to the country temporary workers from other countries in order to work at German airports. According to local media reports in Germany, there was a shortage of about 2,000 to 3,000 employees at the country’s airports.

Recently, Labour Minister Hubertus Heil stressed that employers must pay collective wages and also provide decent accommodation for a limited period.

“We want to rule out any form of social dumping and exploitation,” Heil pointed out, as reported by Al Arabiya News.

AtoZSerwisPlus.de previously reported that the flag carrier of Germany, Lufthansa, also stressed that it would cancel nearly 1,000 flights in July due to staff shortages.

According to a spokesperson from Lufthansa, the airline also cancelled nearly 900 domestic and short-haul European flights scheduled to depart from Frankfurt and Munich in July.

According to a Lufthansa spokesperson, the cancelled flights account for about five per cent of Lufthansa’s average weekend schedule.

In addition, the Group’s budget airline brand, Eurowings, was also obliged to cancel several flights in an effort to stabilise its service for July.