Schiphol welcomes Chinese passengers

From early January 2012 Schiphol will welcome all Chinese passengers to Schiphol with a Chinese version of the ‘Schiphol app’. Upon arrival at Schiphol hostesses will welcome Chinese passengers to Schiphol in Mandarin. They will they receive a list of various English and Dutch words translated in Mandarin.

Welcome to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

To welcome Chinese passengers a special showroom has been set up where Chinese passengers can obtain tourist information and product offers. The digital screens in the terminal will also show information in Chinese. The staff in the terminal who speak Mandarin can be identified by the ‘I speak Mandarin button’ they will be wearing. Chinese passengers will be offered free Internet access. During the month of January East Bar & Bites in Departure Lounge 3 will serve snacks and meals prepared the Chinese way.

Chinese app functionalities

The app can be downloaded by both iPhones and Android telephones. The app offers passenger information about product offers, flights, public transport, baggage and medical services. Themaps of the departure lounges after Passport Control have also been translated into Mandarin.

The app was developed jointly with Aéroports de Paris and will also be offered to Chinese passengers at Paris Charles de Gaulle from January 2012. Otto Ambagtsheer, Director of theBusiness Area Consumers at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol: “We developed the app jointly with Charles de Gaulle Airport and are the first airports in Europe to address Chinese passengers in their own language using an app. 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.” In mid-January a highly innovative version of the app will become available that can translate the airport signs directly into Mandarin via smartphone cameras.