Virgin Atlantic will terminate its only route to mainland China at the end of the summer 2024 season, blaming “significant challenges and complexities” resulting from not being able to overfly Russia.
The final Virgin Atlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to Shanghai Pudong International Airport will depart on Oct. 25, with the return service the following day. The SkyTeam alliance member currently operates the 4,987-nm route daily using Boeing 787-9 aircraft. The final service from Shanghai to Heathrow will operate on October 26, confirmed the airline.
This move to remove Shanghai from the network comes after 25 years of service on the route and according to Virgin Atlantic’s network list on its website, the decision means the airline will no longer fly to China at all.
Virgin’s decision may come as a surprise at a time when e-commerce demand out of China is in full force. However, the flight primarily caters for passenger demand and increased costs have sealed the fate of the service.
“After careful consideration we’ve taken the difficult decision to suspend our London Heathrow to Shanghai services, after proudly serving this Asian hub city since 1999,” a Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said.
“Our people and customers in Shanghai have been amazing since we first touched down 25 years ago and since then we’ve provided important connectivity between the UK and Shanghai for thousands of customers and supported global supply chains through our cargo operations. However, significant challenges and complexities on this route have contributed to the commercial decision to suspend flying to Shanghai.”
Virgin Atlantic said operations have become increasingly costly as it is unable to overfly Russia, leading to lengthy diversions. This follows Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in spring 2022, which saw numerous countries impose sanctions on Russian airlines. In retaliation, Russia closed its airspace to many international carriers.
Flights from London to Shanghai take approximately 1-hr. longer than before, while the return leg takes about 2-hr. longer. Virgin Atlantic said this, therefore, requires additional aircraft and crew time.
In tandem with this, Chinese carriers continue to overfly Russia on routes to Europe, providing them with a competitive advantage. In April, Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith called for airlines that overfly Russia to be banned from landing in Europe, saying “there should be no ability for any carrier that wants to land in Europe to be able to fly over Russia.”
According to OAG Schedules Analyser data, the London-Shanghai market will be served by four carriers once Virgin Atlantic exits. British Airways and China Eastern Airlines each offer daily LHR-PVG flights, while Air China and China Eastern serve London Gatwick-PVG daily and double-daily, respectively.
Virgin Atlantic returned to Shanghai in May 2023 following a suspension of more than two years due to pandemic-related travel restrictions. The airline said that passengers booked for travel beyond Oct. 26 would be offered a full refund.
