Skift Take
After leaving Hong Kong in 2022, Shanghai was Virgin Atlantic's final Chinese destination. The development comes amid a broader retreat among some Western carriers.
Virgin Atlantic is withdrawing from China after 25 years. The last round-trip for the company’s London to Shanghai service will be on October 25. The British airline cited “significant challenges and complexities” for the commercially motivated decision.
Virgin’s operations have become increasingly costly due to increased flight times. London to Shanghai has always been a long-haul link, but the closure of Russian airspace has resulted in even longer journeys.
Virgin resumed its Shanghai route in May 2023 following the pandemic. Since then, a typical flight from Heathrow is an hour longer, while the return to London is two hours longer.
Traveling westbound, Virgin's advertised journey time between the two cities is 14 hours and 20 minutes. By comparison, Chinese airlines that still fly over Russia can operate the same route in under 12 hours.
As well as burning more fuel and being less convenient for passengers, Virgin’s longer flights mean additional aircraft and crew resourcing for the airline.
Speaking to Skift last month, KLM CEO Marjan Rintel shared he