BA to suspend London Heathrow – Chengdu from 12 January 2017

London Air Travel » Chengdu

British Airways Boeing 787-8
British Airways Boeing 787-8 (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways has confirmed it is to suspend its London Heathrow – Chengdu route from Tuesday 12 January 2017.


The last outbound flight from London Heathrow (Flight BA88) will operate on Tuesday 12 January, and the last inbound flight to London Heathrow (Flight BA89) will operate on Wednesday 13 January.

Whilst airlines regularly review their route networks and suspend under-performing routes and it has been known for some time that the Chengdu route is underperforming, the announcement is significant.
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A Tale Of Two Routes: Heathrow To Austin & Chengdu

The relative performance of two BA routes to Austin and Chengdu shows why a third runway Heathrow may not result in more routes to Asia.

London Air Travel » Chengdu

British Airways Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
British Airways Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner (Image Credit: Heathrow)

The owners of Heathrow and Gatwick are currently campaigning for their respective airports to gain an additional runway (a third runway in the case of Heathrow and a second runway in the case of Gatwick) as part of The Airports Commission’s appraisal of the options for additional runway capacity in the South East of England.

The nub of Gatwick’s campaign under the banner “Gatwick Obviously” is that, as well as being able to secure a new runway at much less cost, additional capacity at Gatwick is essential to provide effective competition between Gatwick and Heathrow.

Key to Heathrow’s campaign for a third runway is that additional capacity is essential to secure links between the UK and international growth markets in Asia and elsewhere.

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