Summary
- British Airways is launching its largest international recruitment campaign since the pandemic to increase the number of Mandarin-speaking flight crew members based in China.
- The airline aims to double the number of crew members who can speak Mandarin on flights between Beijing, Shanghai, and London.
- British Airways recently resumed flights to China after the lifting of travel restrictions, with services to both Beijing and Shanghai.
On November 14, British Airways revealed it was looking to increase its Mandarin-speaking flight crew members. Specifically, the United Kingdom’s flag carrier will look to double the number of crew members who can speak Mandarin on routes to and from Beijing and Shanghai.
Mandarin-focused hiring campaign
The new campaign by British Airways is considered its largest international attempt at recruitment since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline is hoping to increase the number of crew members that are based in China. British Airways has two crew based in the country, based in Beijing and Shanghai. The Chief Customer Officer of British Airways, Calum Laming, spoke about the new recruitment campaign. Laming stated,
“As travel from China to the UK continues to re-build, we are seeing a growing demand for flights between Beijing, Shanghai and London. We hugely value the contribution our Chinese colleagues make to our business, and growing our international cabin crew base allows us to ensure our customers receive the very highest level of personalized service.”
British Airways intends to increase the number of flight crew members who speak Mandarin from two members to four members on specific flights. The flights that connect the Chinese mainland to London will have double the number of flight crew members speaking Mandarin.
Photo: Nick Morrish | British Airways
Laming also stated,
“We are proud to have flown to the Chinese mainland for more than 40 years, and with 22 weekly flights between the UK and the Chinese mainland, our relationship has only grown stronger.”
Recently resumed flights to China
The new hiring campaign and guidelines come after British Airways recently restarted its services to China. Earlier this year, the airline resumed service to both Beijing and Shanghai. These routes were restarted after China lifted its three-year-old travel restrictions. The restrictions were due to the COVID-19 pandemic and included quarantine requirements and other restrictions.
In February, earlier this year, British Airways announced it would resume a service that connects Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) to London Heathrow International Airport (LHR). British Airways began this service again on April 23. The airline operates this route with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. This route is operated as a daily service. This announcement came at the same time that Virgin Atlantic announced it would resume its service to China from London as well.
Also this year, in June, British Airways also resumed direct flights between London and Bejing Daxing International Airport (PKX). This service restored the airline as the only carrier to connect Beijing and the UK. The original service between these two destinations originated in November 1980, over 40 years ago.
Photo: Nick Morrish | British Airways
The PKX-LHR service is operated four times a week. The London to Beijing service, which is operated as BA-89, is flown on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. This flight departs London at 15:05 local time and arrives in Beijing at 9:36 local time the following day. The return service, which is registered as BA-88, is operated the following days, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. The return flight departs Beijing at 11:20 local time and arrives in London at 17:20 local time. This service is operated by a Boeing 777.