Air China, the official carrier of the Beijing Games, wants the cream of its flight attendants speaking fluently in English and giving customers a welcoming smile.

Applicants for the recruitment to the flight attendants of Air China display their notification for the second round interviews. [China Daily]

The country's flag carrier launched a new round of nationwide recruiting this week to find 300 attendants aged 19 and 25 to serve on popular flights next year.

More than 800 people, mostly students from flight attendant schools who will graduate next year, showed up on the first day of the preliminary stage in Beijing, while more than 5,000 people have applied for the dream job in other cities including Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu. The final 300 will be decided in Beijing.

Air China said the standard height for female applicants should be between 164cm and 172 cm, while the standard for male applicants is 174cm to 180 cm. All applicants have to be unmarried. Apart from the normal criteria for flight attendants, applicants are tested on etiquette and communication.

Among the selection criteria, judges said, they are especially looking for friendly faces. Candidates with good spoken English will have an advantage over others.

Air China is planning to add more routes to overseas destinations in the advent of a now-or-never opportunity to boost its growth as a leading airline in China and Asia.

An estimated 2.5 million visitors, including half a million from overseas, will travel to Beijing for the Games. The Chinese capital has prepared itself for the expected congestion with a newly completely terminal. This will stretch its annual capacity to over 70 million passengers.

Last week, China also upgraded its air traffic control system by allowing twice as many flights in its air space at the same time.