Four times a week, British Airways flight BA89 takes off from London Heathrow, destination Beijing. The pilots of the Boeing 777 navigate a precise course through the Caucasus between Russia and Iran, on a journey scheduled to take 11 hours 30 minutes.
But every day of the week, two Air China jets and a China Southern plane links the same cities much more quickly, shaving up to two hours off the flight time.
The difference is: Chinese airlines are permitted to fly over Russia, enabling them to fly the optimum route over Denmark, Sweden and Finland, entering Russian airspace north of St Petersburg.
While one traveller this week summed up the inflight experience on Chinese airlines as “mediocre food and terrible entertainment”, the shorter journey appeals to many passengers.
In addition, fares on Chinese airlines are much lower – partly reflecting the shorter journey and lower costs of fuel, crew and engine wear.
A return flight in the last week of August costs exactly £1,000 on China Eastern, including baggage. BA is charging £590 more – excluding luggage.
When British Airways restored the link in June 2023, after a three-year hiatus caused by Covid travel restrictions, the airline called it “one of our most important routes”. But faced with growing competition, including a new Air China link from Gatwick this summer, British Airways is suspending the route from late October.
A BA spokesperson 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.”
While air passengers’ rights rules require British Airways to buy seats aboard Chinese flights for travellers who want to continue with their journeys, in practice it will probably be more advantageous for people with tickets for now-cancelled flights to claim a refund and re-book at a lower price.
BA adds: “We continue to operate daily flights to Shanghai and Hong Kong.”
Rhys Jones, of the frequent-flyer website Head for Points, said: “When I flew back from Beijing last year, the BA Club World cabin was sparsely populated.
“Chinese tourism has not yet returned en masse post-pandemic.”
British Airways began flights to Beijing in 1980. The airline stresses that the suspension is temporary, at present until November 2025.
Faced with similar headwinds, Virgin Atlantic will drop its Heathrow-Shanghai flight in late October. Sir Richard Branson’s airline has also ended flights to Hong Kong and Tokyo.