Weibo and WeChat, the Chinese equivalents of Twitter and Whatsapp, have been developed for the airport to “better communicate with the masses of passengers from China”.
Since the launch of the Hainan Airlines flight in June, almost 40,000 passengers have travelled between Manchester and Beijing.
Many of these turn to Weibo and WeChat to communicate with friends and relatives, and to interact with brands, so the airport has worked with Chinese digital agency Red Lantern to create and develop its presence on the channels.
The airport not only plans to communicate with current passengers in Mandarin who use the route, but also with the huge Chinese population across its catchment area that spans as far north as Scotland, south to the West Midlands and across to North Wales, Merseyside and Yorkshire.
The airport said this is made up of Chinese students who use it to access universities and also the rich population of people of Chinese heritage.
Patrick Alexander, head of marketing at Manchester airport, said: “What better way to speak to a core demographic and our new passenger base than adopting the channels they know and love.
“Not only can we provide them with relevant airport and airline information, but by using their channels, in their native Mandarin, we can give added value and a better, more targeted, customer service.
“The channels will provide a wealth of content and as we grow and develop our route network to China, in turn the social media channels will also grow.”
Lewis Hannam, founder of Red Lantern, said: “The direct flights between Manchester and Beijing are a significant boost to trade between the two countries.
“WeChat and Weibo are vital tools in engaging and understanding your Chinese customers. This is just the first step in some innovative moves the airport will make for its Chinese travellers.”
The airport’s new WeChat account will give Chinese visitors full details of the airport’s services, including an airport map, travel information, eating options, language help, free Wi-Fi connection, and duty free tax information.
Both the WeChat and Weibo accounts will also feature tourist attraction information in Mandarin for the broader area, as well as light-hearted video content from local Chinese students “explaining why the area is such a great place to visit, and some of its hidden gems”.
The handles are as follows:
Weibo: @曼彻斯特国际机场
WeChat: 曼彻斯特国际机场
Hainan Airlines flies four times a week to Beijing from Manchester with an Airbus A330-300.