Romania: Additional info on movement of seasonal workers

New procedure for the approval of charter flights for seasonal workers entered into force on April 13.

Romania: Additional information regarding movement of seasonal workers to other countries

Military Ordinance no. 7/4.04.2020 which allowed the movement of seasonal workers to other countries by means of charter flights did not provide details on how this activity should be organised.

At the end of last week, following the irregularities noticed during the departure of the first charter flights with seasonal workers to Germany, the Romanian Ministry of Transport issued an Order (no. 875 of 10.04.2020) setting the procedure for approval of these flights.

The recruitment agencies are still the ones who must arrange all the ins and outs of this ‘operation’, however the airline companies must fulfil some requirements in order to be allowed to carry out the flight.

The procedure states that an approval for these flights needs to be obtained first from the Civil Aviation Authority (www.caa.ro). The airline operator must send a request to CAA at least 48 hours before the scheduled flight time, accompanied by a set of documents (see attached a rough/summary translation of the order).

CAA then issues the requested approval within maximum 24 hours from the receipt of the complete documentation

However, CAA shall not approve flights which are scheduled at an interval of less than 4 hours between them. This can obviously limit the number of flights which can depart from an airport every day.

Also, the companies which do the transport of workers from their residence areas to the airports, must notify in advance the Road Transport Authority about the respective services. They must also make sure that passengers do not arrive at the airport more than 4 h before the flight.

Also previously planned and arranged charter flights must undergo this new procedure.

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