Beijing Airport Swaps Chinese Service Tips with Helsinki

This month, Finavia and Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) are engaging in a two-week staff exchange programme to better educate Helsinki Airport employees on serving Chinese passengers.

The goal for the employees is to learn about Chinese service culture and to deploy this new knowledge at Helsinki Airport, as Chinese passengers are now the airport’s fastest growing passenger group.

Elena Stenholm, Vice President of Commercial Services for Helsinki airport told TRBusiness earlier this month, that this is a very exciting time for the airport, which is currently significantly expanding its retail and F&B offer.

“It is fantastic for our staff to visit the world’s second largest airport and to see its day-to-day work and practices first-hand,” says Kaarina Soikkanen, Director of Administration and Personnel, Finavia. “We’re looking forward to a unique, useful and unforgettable experience.

“Our staff will participate in practical tasks in several units and get to learn Chinese service culture and the needs of Chinese passengers from varying points of view. We hope to bring home new insights and practical skills on how we can better serve Chinese passengers at Helsinki Airport and our other airports, for example in Lapland.”

Sister Airports

Finavia, operating a network of 22 airports in Finland, and Capital Airports Holding Company (CAH), which operates over 40 airports in China, have entered into a cooperation agreement in January 2016, under which Helsinki and Beijing Airports became sister airports.

This staff exchange is among the first, concrete actions arising from the agreement and the first exchange to include operational airport staff for both Finavia and BCIA.

“Beijing Airport staff will, in turn, visit Helsinki Airport during spring 2017,” adds Soikkanen. “The next Finavia group will visit Beijing in approximately one year from now.”

Finavia’s growth is heavily focused on Asia, and China especially. The number of Chinese passengers at Helsinki Airport increased by approximately 50% in 2014 and 2015. Helsinki Airport is a significant hub for air travel between Europe and Asia, providing the fastest and shortest route between the two continents, says the Finish airports operator.

Overcomming The Language Barrier

“Our aim is to make our Chinese passengers’ visit as easy and smooth as possible,” says Helsinki Airport Director Ville Haapasaari from Finavia. “One of the main challenges has been the language barrier, as not all Chinese tourists speak English.”

“Beijing Airport staff will, in turn, visit Helsinki Airport during spring 2017,” says Soikkanen.

Finavia launched a Chinese-speaking guide service in June 2016 at Helsinki Airport. The service has been very well received – in only two months, over 20,000 Chinese passengers received personal service in their own language.

“It has become significantly easier for Chinese passengers to navigate at the airport as they have become able to communicate in their own language,” says Haapasaari.

Finavia has also provided Helsinki Airport staff with cultural courses.

“Our airport staff has an admirable service attitude,” adds Haapasaari. “Many have studied different cultures also independently in order to serve different nationalities the best possible way. A big part of our success is because of our airport staff.’

In addition, Finavia has focused on adding Chinese signage and increasing the amount of Chinese-speaking store staff at Helsinki Airport. The airport’s website is available in Chinese and it has social media accounts in the Chinese services, Weibo and Youku.

Helsinki Airport, operated by Finavia, ranks as the fifth largest airport in Europe by the number of Asian connections. In 2016, Helsinki Airport services 17 direct destinations in Asia. Five of those destinations are in China: Chongqing, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai and Xi’an.