Calm, helpful, respectful - the job of an Airline Liaison Officer

Airline liaison officers (ALOs) work in airports around the world on behalf of Immigration New Zealand. Paul Johannsen recently served as an ALO in Dubai.

Paul Johannsen in Dubai.

"It’s all about how you talk to people"

Paul Johannsen’s 27 years as a crime scene investigator with the New Zealand Police is part of the background he believed helped in his role as an Immigration New Zealand (INZ) Airline Liaison Officer (ALO) at Dubai’s vast international airport.

“I worked with the airlines at Dubai and at the remote ports feeding passengers into Dubai to transit to NZ. I worked with Dubai Immigration and ALOs based here from other countries,” says Paul.

“I dealt with travellers bound for entry to NZ or who were transiting through NZ.”

The main issues were around passengers not having the correct documents to travel to NZ, or who were identified as not travelling to NZ for a genuine or lawful purpose.

Paul says the key thing was to listen to people, and to be calm, helpful and respectful.

“My career has involved dealing with people face-to-face, and often in circumstances where they are stressed or uncomfortable. That’s useful for this role, where people may be anxious and need support and accurate information.”

Paul says dealing with a variety of nationalities at check-in was demanding due to the language barriers, and time constraints on the check-in operators to move passengers through. ALOs work closely with airlines.

Helping New Zealanders during COVID-19

After selection as an ALO Paul was initially based at Brisbane at the height of the COVID-19 response, when people were desperately looking for ways to come home.

“I spent a lot of time dealing with people face-to-face and assuring them that while they could not travel now, they would be able to in the future. It solved a lot of problems.”

Paul says New Zealanders who were travelling quarantine free at that time were often relieved to see a New Zealander they could talk to about their travel documents and any requirements. At Dubai, Emirates was the primary airline but the airport had dozens of check-in terminals used by Emirates and any other airline at the airport.

“I was proud to be selected to be part of the ALO team,” Paul says.

“Being deployed is a big commitment to leave your families behind. It can be extremely hard without the support of those loved ones as most of the deployments are single postings.

“Having the support of the Immigration New Zealand team also makes a real difference,” says Paul.

This video was made when Paul was in Dubai.