British Airways is grounding its flights to Beijing from 26 October.
It said it hopes to resume the service, which re-started in 2023 following a pause during the pandemic, in November next year.
BA’s decision to suspend the route follows Virgin’s announcement that it is axing flights to Shanghai, also from October.
While BA didn’t say why it was pausing its Beijing service, European airlines are struggling to compete with Chinese carriers since they’ve had to fly round Russian airspace.
Unlike European carriers, Chinese airlines still fly over Russia, so their flights are hours faster and cheaper to operate.
When it announced it was ditching its Shanghai service, Virgin revealed that they were taking up to two hours longer since they’d had to avoid Russia’s airspace following its invasion of Ukraine.
In a statement, BA said: “We will be pausing our route to Beijing from 26 October 2024, and we’re contacting any affected customers with rebooking options or to offer them a full refund.”
BA will continue flying daily to Shanghai and Hong Kong.
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It said it hopes to resume the service, which re-started in 2023 following a pause during the pandemic, in November next year.
BA’s decision to suspend the route follows Virgin’s announcement that it is axing flights to Shanghai, also from October.
While BA didn’t say why it was pausing its Beijing service, European airlines are struggling to compete with Chinese carriers since they’ve had to fly round Russian airspace.
Unlike European carriers, Chinese airlines still fly over Russia, so their flights are hours faster and cheaper to operate.
When it announced it was ditching its Shanghai service, Virgin revealed that they were taking up to two hours longer since they’d had to avoid Russia’s airspace following its invasion of Ukraine.
In a statement, BA said: “We will be pausing our route to Beijing from 26 October 2024, and we’re contacting any affected customers with rebooking options or to offer them a full refund.”
BA will continue flying daily to Shanghai and Hong Kong.
The post BA to suspend Beijing flights appeared first on Travel Gossip.
Continue reading...
