British Airways

UK – British Airways has released a new ad campaign that highlights Chinese parents as a growing travel demographic.

• According to the Travel China Guide’s figures for 2015, the number of outbound travellers had increased by 12% on 2014
• The campaign advertises the airline’s recent recruitment of its first China-based cabin crew

Figures published in the Global Times show that there has been a 13.9% year-on-year increase in the number of Chinese students studying abroad. British Airways is honing in on this expanding market by hiring 54 additional cabin crew members on its routes between Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and London.

The video campaign, which is called Flying the Nest, tells the story of a Chinese student who is studying in the UK. The student, Fangfang, is worried about having left her mother and father at home while she studies in the UK, unaware that they are on a plane to pay her a surprise visit.

It is the first time British Airways has selected a China-based cabin crew and the company has promised that all flights between China and the UK will have at least two Chinese crew on board. ‘By bringing Chinese crew on board, with their understanding… of Chinese customers, we are hoping to add more cultural flavour to our flights,’ says Richard Tams, British Airways' executive vice-president for China, Hong Kong SAR and the Philippines.