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China Air hires 17 Indian airhostesses

October 20, 2005 18:24 IST
China Eastern Airlines, the only Chinese carrier that operates direct services to India, has recruited 17 young Indian stewardesses to cater to the growing India-China segment, the company said on Thursday.

The 17 Indian stewardesses have arrived in the company's headquarters in Shanghai to join the China Eastern Airlines, one of the nation's leading airway companies, based in the largest metropolis of east China.

"To recruit foreign stewardesses is one of the measures China Eastern Airlines is taking to further localise its services," a company official said.

Speaking both Punjabi and English, the Indian girls, aged 20 on average, will serve as the company's flights between China and India, the official said.

The Indian stewardesses are all college graduates, and some have worked at Indian airports. They will be trained at the China Eastern for their new job, the official said.

China Eastern Airlines opened flights from Beijing and Shanghai to New Delhi, its first between China and India, in March 2002.

In April this year, the company began to provide air services for passengers from Beijing and Shanghai to Mumbai and vice versa, increasing its flights between the two nations to seven a week, Xinhua news agency reported from Shanghai.

Currently, China Eastern has nearly 300 foreign employees, the report said. The mass recruitment of Indian stewardesses aroused the attention of the Chinese media that the China Daily and People's Daily, both leading official newspapers, published the arrival of the 17-member group in Shanghai.

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