Will the airports be able to cope with the influx of passengers during the summer holidays?

Elise Denjean, edited by Nathanaël Bentura 10:05 a.m., May 09, 2022

There is a gap between recruitment forecasts and real needs in European airports.

Two months away from the big holidays, they are not at all ready to cope with the influx of passengers.

In Amsterdam, for example, Schipol airport had to cancel dozens of flights last week due to lack of staff.

In question, the post-Covid-19 recovery, much faster than expected.

What the airports could not anticipate.

4,000 hires to regulate the situation in Paris

Airports are pulling out all the stops to rectify the situation.

In Paris, the ADP group has announced 4,000 vacancies in Orly and Roissy, but these recruitments will not be effective immediately, recalls Arnaud Aymé, transport specialist at Sia Partners.

>> Find Europe Matin in replay and podcast here

"In fact, there is an inertia of several months, either because we recruit technicians who must have specific skills, or because we recruit security personnel who must receive a whole set of approvals, which takes several months,” he explained. 

In France, the sector lost 15 to 20% of its workforce during the pandemic and must now face a lack of attractiveness, explains Thomas Juan, president of the Union of French airports: "Mainly the positions that we call in the jargon of screening inspection, that is to say all the checks that are carried out, which passengers know well before joining the boarding lounges.These are jobs with staggered hours at work on weekends, but which are essential for the whole airport organization.”

>> READ ALSO - 

Airports: it is necessary to "deal urgently" with congestion according to the airlines

Added to this is the lack of police officers who play the role of border guards at airports.

A situation that already threatens the reopening, next month, of the Bordeaux airport, dedicated to low-cost flights.