Schiphol and Charles de Gaulle airports launch innovative Chinese App

Today, Schiphol launches the Chinese version of the „Schiphol App'. The app navigates passengers through the airport and translates signposting into Mandarin. The app, developed in association with Aéroports de Paris, can be downloaded by both iPhones and Android telephones.

Chinese app functionalities

The app provides passenger information on product offers, flights, public transport, baggage and medical services. The maps of the departure lounges have also been translated into Mandarin. Above all, passengers can use their smartphone camera to translate the airport signs directly into Mandarin. This feature is already available for Android telephones and will also be available for iPhones shortly. Otto Ambagtsheer, Director of the Business Area Consumers at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol: “We developed the app jointly with Aéroports de Paris and are the first airports in Europe to address Chinese passengers in their own language. Many Chinese passengers do not read or speak English. By means of this app and indeed our entire campaign, we aim to offer the growing numbers of Chinese passengers a warm welcome and wish them a pleasant arrival at Schiphol.”

Chinese welcome

Today, the Chinese New Year will be celebrated widely by the Chinese community. Many Chinese passengers are travelling abroad in January to celebrate the New Year period with their families. During the month of January hostesses welcome Chinese passengers in Mandarin upon arrival at Schiphol and they will receive a list of various words in English and Dutch with a Mandarin translation. A special showroom has been set up on Pier F where Chinese passengers can obtain tourist and product information. Information in Chinese will also be shown on the digital screens in the terminal. The staff in the terminal who speak Mandarin can be identified by the „I speak Mandarin button‟ they are wearing. Chinese passengers get 15-minutes of free high-speed Internet access, plus one-hour of free Wi-Fi. In the restaurant in the departure lounges Chinese snacks and meals are being served.

Jointly developed

M2Mobi developed the Chinese app, which was commissioned by Schiphol Group and Aéroports de Paris. Both airport companies entered into a long-term collaboration to form a leading, global airport alliance on 1 December 2008. They have an 8% shareholding in each other‟s company, serving to reinforce their commitment to the alliance. The development of the innovative Chinese app reflects the collaboration between the two airports.