Qatar Airways Add 10 Thousand Staff To Support Services During The 2022 World Cup

Ilustras Qatar Airways staff. (Wikimedia Commons/Brussels Airport)

JAKARTA - The airline Qatar Airways has added 10,000 people to its workforce, to deal with the entry of passengers flying to Doha for the 2022 World Cup and in line with the wider post-pandemic expansion.

The Doha-based operator is in the midst of recruitment efforts that will lift his total workforce to more than 55,000 from about 45,000 at this time, a spokesman, who declined to be named.

"Qatar Airways is on track of growth after COVID and with preparations for the World Cup running smoothly, it is increasing recruitment across airlines," the company said in a statement to Reuters.

The airline declined to say how many new positions would be permanent. Previously, Qatar Airways cut the number of staff to below 37,000 by 2021, having reduced its destination to 33 cities during the peak of the pandemic in 2020. Since then, operations have been increased back to more than 150 destinations.

The recruitment process itself was held in the Philippines, India, and other countries at the end of September, the spokesman said.

It is not clear how many new staff will be stationed when the World Cup starts on November 20 in Qatar, the first Middle Eastern country to host the football World Cup.

During the tournament, Qatar Airways adjusted 70 percent of its schedule to pave way for additional flights arriving in Doha, canceling other flights and reducing frequency to free up aircraft to meet fan requests.

Other airlines will significantly increase flights to Qatar, which has reopened old airports for the event.

"This will be a huge challenge to be able to manage this very fast-moving demand for a very large number of spectators," Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al-Baker told reporters earlier this year.

Qatar faces a widespread shortage of personnel as it prepares to receive around 1.2 million visitors during the World Cup for a month, which is expected to put pressure on its infrastructure, hospitality and security sectors.