British Airways is ending its flights to Beijing this October with no timetable for return. While global travel demand has been high in the years after the Covid-19 pandemic, travel demand to China is still extremely low and it appears this flight is the latest casualty of that.
British Airways is currently operating between London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) and Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX) four times weekly using Boeing 777 aircraft. The airline relocated from Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) after the opening of Daxing.
The Demand on this route must have been almost non-existent if British Airways was unable to fill 4x weekly flights between the capitals of the 2nd and 6th largest economies in the world. The flight is having to fly a slightly longer distance due to sanctions related to Russia’s war in Ukraine though one would think that had a minimal impact on the decision to cancel.
The flights are currently blocked at 13h 15m westbound and 11h 30m eastbound operating on the following schedule:
- BA 88 (PKX-LHR) Depart: 11:20a Arrive: 5:35p
- BA 89 (LHR-PKX) Depart: 3:05p Arrive: 9:35a (+1)
The final flights for the London-Beijing service are scheduled for Thursday October 24th. Flights after that date are still bookable on the British Airways website, though they will be operated by codeshare partner China Southern Airlines.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see this route return sometime in the future once demand for travel to and from China recovers. However, I’m not sure when that will be. The country has seen a massive drop in demand in the aftermath of the pandemic. Virgin Atlantic recently decided to pull out of the country completely and, British Airways will only serve Hong Kong and Shanghai from London this winter.
Summary
British Airways is eliminating its 4x weekly service to Beijing in October for at least the next year as the flights have been pulled through the end of the schedule. Passengers traveling between London and Beijing can still fly direct with Air China (to PEK) and China Southern (PKX).
