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German airports hire 150 Turks to fill staff shortage

Around 150 airport workers from Turkey will be sent to German airports, according to an industry association, far fewer than initially expected, despite staff shortages that have caused travel chaos during the summer holiday season.

In late June, the German government announced plans to speed up work permits and visas for several thousand foreign airport workers, mostly from Turkey, to help ease the summer travel chaos that has frustrated holidaymakers.

However, only Munich and Nuremberg airports ended up hiring workers from Turkey, Thomas Richter, head of the ABL aviation ground handling employers’ association, told Reuters. They will help handle baggage under temporary contracts that will run until early November.

Industry unions had reported a shortage of around 2,000 workers at Germany’s airports. However, foreign workers must undergo the same security checks as domestic workers at airports before being allowed to work, making the hiring process time-consuming.

Richter said most airports have not moved to hire foreign workers because the process of transporting them to Germany would take too long and the summer holidays are almost over.

Frankfurt airport operator Fraport found that most of the available workers lacked the qualifications required of airport staff, which include speaking German, Richter said.

Source: Capital

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