Apply for access authorization for security areas of the airport

Source: BUS Rheinland-Pfalz

If you want to work in a security area at an airport, you need access authorization. You will usually receive an airport ID card as proof of this. The ID card allows you to move around the airport unaccompanied in the areas relevant to your work. You may not give your ID card to any other person. If you lose your ID card or it is stolen, you must report this immediately to the airport issuing office.

You do not need access authorization at an airport if you are working outside the security areas, for example in the generally accessible entrance hall.

You usually apply for access authorization via the airport operator at the aviation security authority. The regulation applies to persons who regularly have to enter the security area of an airport, for example for

security checks
check-in
transportation
the inspection of air freight.

The security area includes

Parts of an airport where screened passengers may be present shortly before departure
Parts of an airport where checked baggage is located or transported through
Areas of an airport where aircraft and other aircraft are parked
for boarding and disembarking as well as loading and unloading

The regulation therefore also applies to

Pilots,
student pilots and trainee pilots,
Members of airport-based clubs,
student interns and trainees,
Suppliers of goods and similar suppliers,
traders and business people and
employees of cleaning companies.

A positive background check is required before you can obtain access authorization:

As a rule, you apply for your background check together with the access authorization. Unless you have already undergone an equivalent check.

If you apply for access authorization in writing:

You can obtain the form from your employer, the ID card office at the airport or you can download the form from the Internet (application for an airport ID card, application for a background check).
In most cases, both applications are linked in one form.
Complete the form pages and obtain confirmation from your employer. You can then submit the application to the airport operator yourself or have it submitted by your employer.
The airport operator will check whether your application is necessary for operational reasons.
The airport operator forwards the application for the access authorization and, if necessary, the background check to the aviation security authority.
The aviation security authority will inform you of the result with a notification. Your employer and the airport operator will also be informed of the result, but will not receive a detailed explanation.
If the result is positive and the airport operator also sees no grounds for obstruction, it will issue you with an airport ID card, provided the other requirements are met.
You must appear in person to collect your airport ID card from the airport operator.
Please note that the airport ID card is valid for a limited period of time and only for certain areas in the security zone of the airport.
Please note that the airport operator may revoke your access authorization at a later date if there are reasons for doing so, for example if your background check has been completed.

If the result of the background check is negative, you cannot obtain access authorization and therefore no airport ID card. However, you can lodge an objection.

Digital: For Hamburg, Bremen, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, it has been possible to submit an application for a background check and access authorization online since 2022:

Create a free service account in the Hamburg service portal.
Complete the online application and upload all the required documents.
Send the completed document digitally to the relevant authority.
For employees: Print out the application PDF after completion, sign it and send it by post to the responsible authority.
The competent aviation security authority will forward the relevant data to the airport digitally and obtain confirmation that your application is operationally necessary.
The remaining procedural steps are the same as the written procedure.

Apply for access authorization for security areas of the airport

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Requirements

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Processing duration

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Translation note