BA's Mandarin service

Customer service for passengers from China arriving at or departing from Heathrow has been boosted with the introduction by British Airways of Mandarin-speaking representatives at Terminal 5.

Members of the team, who are fluent in English as well as the Chinese language, are available to help anyone but will be working at times to coincide with passengers on BA’s ten weekly flights to Shanghai, and the seven weekly flights to Beijing.

At check-in, the team greet customers and help them drop off their bags, print their boarding passes and assist them through security. At the gate, they make announcements in Mandarin for customers on the Shanghai and Beijing flights.

In addition to providing the service on the ground, BA has 46 Mandarin-speaking cabin crew, including some based in Shanghai and Beijing who operate flights to and from London to help customers on board.

BA executive vice-president for Greater China Richard Tams said: “For those who do not have English as their first language, the airport can be a daunting place. Our new team are there to ease the concerns of these customers.”

www.britishairways.com

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Andrew Sharp, United Kingdom

Surely it's now known as Putonghua ('common language'), not Mandarin?