by British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have announced the resumption of flights to mainland China after a two-year absence due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Flights between Heathrow and Shanghai will be operated by British Airways from April 23 and by Virgin Atlantic from May 1.
British Airways will reopen its Heathrow-Beijing route from June 3.
The airline began operating regular passenger service to China in 1980 and continued to do so until the sharp drop in demand caused by the virus crisis.
Flights will restart following an easing of China’s travel restrictions, and borders will reopen to foreign nationals for the first time since 2020.
Western airlines have been reluctant to resume operations to and from Asia due to strict rules for visitors.
Virgin Atlantic commercial director Juha Jarvinen said: “The return of our services in Shanghai has been a long time coming and I am delighted that it is finally a reality.
“We look 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 freight services.
“Shanghai is the final route to return after the global pandemic, restoring our flight program to full capacity.
“Our focus for 2023 is delivery as we look forward to launching routes to new destinations, welcoming new clean and green aircraft and getting back to being the best for our customers and people.”
The airline will double capacity on its Tel Aviv service this summer and will open new routes to the Maldives and Turks and Caicos Islands later this year.
British Airways sales director for the Asia Pacific region, Noella Ferns, said: “We are looking forward to welcoming our customers on board our flights from Shanghai and Beijing.
“We know they were 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 flights to mainland China, having connected the two countries for more than 40 years. We look forward to resuming these routes again.”
British Airways resumed its flights between Heathrow and Hong Kong on December 5, 2022.
It was two months after Virgin Atlantic announced that it would not resume flights on the route in March 2023 as planned due to the closure of Russian airspace following the conflict in Ukraine.
