Virgin Atlantic will suspend its non-stop flights between London Heathrow and Shanghai Pudong starting October 25, 2024. The route is currently operated with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft with daily flights. Its Skyteam partner, China Eastern, and British Airways will continue to operate this segment. The British airline has flown to Mainland China uninterruptedly since 1999 (except for a suspension period due to the pandemic until May 2023).
The decision to cease flights to China’s main financial hub is based on the route’s need to detour through Europe and the Caucasus due to the restriction of Russian airspace. This detour increases the operational costs of the route by extending flight duration and additional fuel consumption, making Shanghai a commercially unviable destination.
With the cessation of operations to Shanghai, Virgin Atlantic exits the East Asian market, having previously stopped flying to Tokyo-Narita in February 2015 and Hong Kong in January 2022.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the British airline continues to grow in India. At the end of March, it began a new service to Bangalore, and for the start of the winter season, it is adding a second daily flight to Mumbai.
During the pandemic, Virgin Atlantic started flying to Pakistan, but it proved to be unprofitable and the service was canceled. The company has not yet announced where the aircraft previously used for the Shanghai route will be redeployed.
See also: Virgin Atlantic returns to Canada with flights to Toronto and begins partnership with WestJet
