British Airways and Virgin Atlantic to relaunch flights to China for first time in two years

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are relaunching flights to mainland China after a two-year absence due to the Covid pandemic.

Flights are being restarted following a relaxation of China’s travel restrictions, which has seen borders reopened to foreign nationals for the first time since 2020. Western airlines have previously been reluctant to resume operations to and from Asia due to the stringent rules for visitors.

British Airways said it will operate flights between Heathrow and Shanghai from 23 April, while Virgin Atlantic will launch flights from 1 May. A route from Heathrow to Beijing is also being reopened by British Airways from 3 June. It comes after the airline restored its flights between Heathrow and Hong Kong on 5 December 2022.

British Airways’ head of sales for the Asia Pacific region, Noella Ferns, said: “We can’t wait to welcome our customers back on board our flights from Shanghai and Beijing. We know they’ve been looking forward to reuniting with family and friends, coming to study in the UK and resuming business between China and the UK.

“We have an incredibly rich history of flying to mainland China, having connected the two countries for more than 40 years. We look forward to resuming these routes again.”

Virgin Atlantic said the return of its Shanghai services has been a “long-time coming” and will restore its flight programme back to full capacity.

The airline’s chief commercial officer Juha Jarvinen said: “We’re looking forward to welcoming our customers back on board and providing vital links to one of the UK’s largest trading partners, for both passenger and cargo services.

“Shanghai is the final route to return following the global pandemic, restoring our flying programme to full capacity. Our focus for 2023 is on delivery, as we look forward to launching routes to new destinations, welcoming brand new clean, green aircraft and getting back to our best for our customers and people.”

The airline will double capacity on its Tel Aviv service this summer, and open new routes to the Maldives and Turks and Caicos later this year.

Free air tickets to Hong Kong

The relaunch of flights to China comes as Hong Kong is giving away 500,000 free air tickets and vouchers to woo tourists back to the city.

The international financial hub is racing to catch up with other popular travel destinations in a fierce regional competition after a slow tourism recovery post-Covid.

During the pandemic, the city largely aligned itself with mainland China’s zero-Covid strategy and has relaxed its entry rules months slower than rivals such as Singapore, Japan and Taiwan.

In a bid to tempt visitors back, Chief Executive John Lee on Wednesday (1 February) launched a tourism campaign, Hello Hong Kong, saying the city will offer 500,000 free air tickets to welcome tourists from around the world.

The project will begin in March and last about six months, with airlines set to distribute the tickets in phases. Under the campaign, most of the plane tickets — worth two billion Hong Kong dollars (£210 million) — will come from three Hong Kong-based airlines through various promotional activities, including lucky draws, buy one, get one free promotions and games.