Virgin Atlantic Abandons China

Virgin Atlantic, the London-based long haul carrier, is cancelling its sole remaining route to China. The airline’s Shanghai (PVG) to London Heathrow (LHR) service is being dropped from the schedule as of October 26th, 2024.

Shanghai is the sole remaining destination in China and the Far East, with routes to Hong Kong (HKG) and Tokyo-Narita (NRT) having already been terminated. British Airways and China Eastern will continue to operate flights between London and Shanghai.

The route is currently operated by a Boeing 787-9 featuring 31 Upper Class (Business), 35 Premium Economy, and 198 Economy seats. While the distance between London and Shanghai is only 5,754 miles, Virgin blocks the flight at 12 hours and 45 minutes eastbound (LHR-PVG) and 14 hours and 40 minutes westbound (PVG-LHR).

This is due to the fact that the flight is unable to fly over Russian airspace and must take a longer route. China Eastern, which is allowed to overfly Russia, blocks its flights at 11 hours and 20 minutes eastbound and 12 hours and 30 minutes westbound.

Virgin began flying the route back in 1999 and operated it continuously until it was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The route returned in May of last year but will be cancelled a year and a half after resuming service.

Virgin Atlantic is part of SkyTeam and the transatlantic joint venture with fellow SkyTeam member Delta. China Eastern, one of the other airlines operating the route, is also a part of SkyTeam and has a partnership with Delta so I’m curious to see if we see cooperation between the three carriers as far as feed is concerned.

Virgin has been cutting back on its route network in recent years and, with the cancellation of Shanghai-Pudong service, the airline is down to only 31 destinations.

Summary

Virgin Atlantic is eliminating its route between London Heathrow and Shanghai-Pudong this October. The airline began serving Shanghai in 1999 and operated the service continuously over the last 25 years, with the exception of a break due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Shanghai was Virgin Atlantic’s last destination in China and the Far East, leaving a large hole in the airline’s already small route map.