More than 3,000 women - including 2,000 mothers - applied to become flight attendants for Spring Airlines, China's only budget carrier, as the airline raised its age limit for new hires to 45.

"We would like to recruit married women with children because they are more mature, reliable and serve passengers more carefully compared with younger ones," said Zhang Wu'an, spokesman for the Shanghai-based carrier. The previous age cap for new flight attendants was 35.

Most applicants were aged 25 to 40 and about 10 percent were above 40, Zhang said, adding that all had a college diploma, 38 held a master's degree and two even had a PhD.