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Asia Pacific
Virgin suspending Shanghai flights
Virgin Atlantic is suspending its only mainland China flights claiming increased flight times avoiding Russian airspace makes it financially unviable.
The airline said it will halt London Heathrow-Shanghai route from 26 October, 2024.
Virgin has been operating Shanghai flights for 25 years, save for a pandemic hiatus.
The route has become ‘increasingly costly.’
London-Shanghai flights take an hour longer while the return takes two additional hours.
This means additional costs in extra crew time.
Customers booked on flights after 26 October will be contacted this week to arrange a refund.
This will signal the end of Virgin Atlantic services in East Asia.
Virgin’s Heathrow-Hong Kong flights were dropped in October 2022 and Tokyo flights were scrapped in 2015.
”Significant challenges and complexities on this route have contributed to the commercial decision to suspend flying to Shanghai,” Virgin said
The airline could return to the region at some point.
It has loose plans for flights to Seoul once the Korean Air – Asiana airline merger goes through.
The airline first began flying to Shanghai in 1999.
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