We are delighted to announce that approval has been granted by CAAC for Virgin Atlantic to operate two direct trial flights between China and the UK in mid-March.
Virgin Atlantic’s Official WeChat account (ID: virginchina) announced the news this afternoon. Due to the nature of the flights, the London to Shanghai flights will be operated with a restriction on load factor, whilst the Shanghai to London flights will have no load factor restriction. The flight schedule will be announced soon and ticket sales will open shortly. Please click the below link for further details (in Chinese only).
James Dunn, Executive Director at BritCham Shanghai:
“Excellent news that the trial flights are back on and will take place this month. Our Platinum Member, Virgin Atlantic, along with the Chamber, has been advocating heavily for the return of non-stop passenger services; this includes raising with Chinese governments (locally and nationally), CAAC and Senior UK Government ministers, and the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Since 26 December 2020, all direct flights have been suspended with no clear sign of when they would return. Amongst the countries where direct flights with China is feasible, the UK is currently the only major global economy that does not have direct flights to/from China. As you would expect, this has had a tremendous impact on businesses and people’s lives, and while this is a very positive step forward, we hope that these flights will continue indefinitely.”
