British Airways suspends flights to major Asian destination despite it being one of its 'most important routes'
British Airways is contacting all affected customers
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British Airways, the UK's flag carrier airline, has announced it will be scrapping flights to Beijing, China.
The airline will suspend flights between London’s Heathrow Airport and the Chinese capital as early as October 26, 2024. The suspension is believed to be until November 2025. After a three-year pause during Covid, flights to Beijing resumed in June 2023.
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At the time, this was described as one of the carrier's "most important routes" by British Airways’ director of worldwide airports, Louise Street.
BA described London to Beijing as one of its 'most important routes'
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She said: "The restart of one of our most important routes after more than three years is a long-awaited moment for all of us at British Airways.
"Following the successful resumption of flights between Shanghai and London in April, we’re excited to be back in Beijing too, reuniting families and friends and facilitating international student and business travel once again.
"We are looking forward to working hand-in-hand with our joint business partner China Southern, to provide wider transit options and various benefits to our customers in China and the UK."
The airline has not announced a reason for scrapping this route, but it is one of many Western airlines avoiding Russian airspace.
This adds to flight times, fuel costs and the complexity over how they deploy crew and aircraft.
In a call with investors last month, Nicholas Cadbury, the chief financial officer of BA's parent company IAG, said the carrier faced "weak demand" in China, according to the BBC.
The suspension of flights will reportedly end in November 2025, although schedules will remain under review.
A BritishAirways spokesperson said: "We will be pausing our route to Beijing from October 26 and we’re contacting any affected customers with rebooking options or to offer them a full refund.
"We continue to operate daily flights to Shanghai and Hong Kong."
Virgin Atlantic also decided it could no longer operate its London to Shanghai route, which will also be scrapped as of October. This is the only route the airline operates to China.
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BA will still operate flights to Hong Kong and Shanghai
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The routes are available to book now and will depart from London Gatwick Airport and Manchester Airport.
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