The Labour Importation Scheme for the Transport Sector – Aviation Industry (Scheme) will be open for a second round of application from next Wednesday (March 13).

     As with the first round of application, importation of labour is allowed for the 10 frontline non-supervisory job types facing the most acute manpower shortages, covering passenger services officers, ramp services agents, cabin workers, aircraft maintenance mechanics/technicians, tractor drivers, warehouse operators/cargo handlers, equipment/loader operators, customer services agents, aircraft tug drivers and maintenance technicians. Applicants of the Scheme must be registered business entities which possess a contract/licence/franchise/passenger handling permit with the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) to operate their business at Hong Kong International Airport. Applicants also have to pay the AAHK $400 per month for each worker imported, while the AAHK will contribute an annual lump sum in an amount of the same magnitude as the total amount paid by applicants. The AAHK will make use of the whole of the payments from the applicants and its own contribution for subsidising the transport costs of the local frontline staff responsible for airport operation. It is expected that the relevant transport subsidy will be disbursed starting from the first half of this year.

     The application procedures and operational details of the Scheme are similar to those of the first round of application. Applicants shall submit the completed application form together with other required documents to the AAHK between March 13 and 26. An interdepartmental liaison group comprising representatives from the Transport and Logistics Bureau (TLB), the Labour Department and the AAHK will consider the applications, and approval decisions will be made by the Permanent Secretary for Transport and Logistics. The approval process will be completed in approximately two weeks from the end of the application period.

     The TLB and the AAHK will continue to engage in regular meetings with the stakeholder consultative group to listen to the views of stakeholders, including employers and labour representatives, on the Scheme. Information dissemination will also be enhanced through the consultative group in order to facilitate the smooth implementation and execution of the Scheme.

     The application forms and scheme details are uploaded onto the webpage of the TLB (www.tlb.gov.hk/eng/highlights/transport/labour_importation_scheme_aviation_industry.html). For enquiries, please contact the AAHK at 2188 6603.

     Premised on safeguarding the employment of local labour, the Scheme was introduced in July last year to allow the aviation industry to suitably import labour with a view to relieving the acute manpower shortage and supporting the continual recovery of Hong Kong’s aviation industry. A total of 2 841 quotas were approved under the first round of the Scheme in August last year. As of March 7, around 1 800 visa applications for imported labour have been submitted. More than half of them, about 1 020 imported labour, have arrived to work in Hong Kong.