Dragonair recruiting in China

DRAGONAIR has begun recruiting air hostesses in China because of what it sees as a shortage of fluent Mandarin speakers in Hongkong.

The Hongkong airline has taken on 15 flight attendants from Shanghai and is now looking to recruit another 10 from elsewhere in China.

If this trial is successful, Dragonair intends to fill future vacancies with mainland staff.

The mainlanders will be employed on exactly the same terms as recruits from Hongkong, with a starting wage of $6,000 a month.

Dragonair began its recruitment campaign by placing a Mandarin advertisement in a Shanghai newspaper. More than 3,000 applicants were received.

But the airline was disappointed by the quality of the applicants.