China Archives – London Air Travel

BA adds new amenities to Beijing, Shanghai, & Hong Kong flights

New amenities for British Airways flights between London Heathrow, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong

British Airways is to add additional in-flight amenities and services to passengers travelling between London Heathrow, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Passengers travelling in World Traveller Plus and Club World will be offered slippers. Passengers travelling in all cabins will be offered Twinings green tea, the option of chopsticks for eating meals and bilingual menus.

In the grand scheme of things, these are fairly small changes. It’s also not unusual for BA to offer additional in flight amenities on certain routes for cultural reasons. Slippers have long been offered on flights to Tokyo and bilingual menus are common on many routes.

However, it does point to an effort to do better in China where BA has had mixed success. BA’s route from London Heathrow to Chengdu was suspended this month and BA faces very strong competition from Cathay Pacific on the London – Hong Kong route.

BA to suspend London Heathrow – Chengdu from 12 January 2017

London Air Travel » China

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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Iberia returns to Tokyo and aims to launch Shanghai

London Air Travel » China

Iberia has announced it is to return to Japan with the launch of a three times weekly flight from Madrid to Tokyo Narita from Tuesday 18 October 2016.

The airline also aims to launch flights from Madrid to Shanghai later in 2016, subject to Government approval and obtaining slots at Shanghai.
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Finnair launches Helsinki to Fukuoka & Guangzhou from May 2016

London Air Travel » China

Finnair continues its strategy of making its Helsinki hub the gateway to Asia with the launch of two new routes, to Fukuoka and Guangzhou.

Finnair will launch a direct route from Helskini to Fukuoka in southern Japan in May 2016, with three weekly flights.

The service to Fukuoka makes Finnair the only European airline to fly to four cities in Japan, the others being Tokyo Narita, Nagoya and Osaka.

Finnair will launch a direct route to Guangzhou in China with four weekly flights between 6 May and 29 October 2016.

Guangzhou is Finnair’s sixth destination in Greater China. Finnair has year-round services to Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong and Shanghai, and a summer seasonal service to Xi’an.

Both destinations will be served with Finnair’s Airbus A330 aircraft, in a two class (economy and business) and configuration.

Finnair’s flight to Fukuoka will be part of the British Airways, Finnair and Japan Airlines joint-venture, and passengers of the respective airlines will be able to book this flight, and onward connections.

Flights are now open for booking at Finnair.com

Timetable:

Flight AY67 Depart Helsinki 17:00 – Arrive Guangzhou 07:30 (Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday)
Flight AY68 Depart Guangzhou 10:00 – Arrive Helsinki 15:00 (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday)

Flight AY75 Depart Helsinki 16:30 – Arrive Fukuoka 08:00 (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday)
Flight AY76 Depart Fukuoka 09:30 – Arrive Helsinki (Wednesday, Friday, Sunday)

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 » China

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.