British Airways is “pausing” direct flights between London and the Chinese capital Beijing from late October, the carrier announced on Thursday, marking the latest Western airline to curb routes to China.
The company, owned by IAG, did not elaborate on the reason, but the move comes as airlines struggle with an airspace ban over Russia, introduced after Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine prompted the EU to shut its airspace to Russian flights.
The ban means flights to and from Europe to China must take longer and more costly routes to avoid Russian airspace.
British Airways only reinstated the Beijing route just over a year ago after a pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Traffic from China to Europe has been very slow to recover since the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, with many flights on the route now dominated by Chinese carriers.
The industry has also pointed to softening demand for travel to China, in particular in the corporate sector.
“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,” British Airways said in a statement.
“We continue to operate daily flights to Shanghai and Hong Kong,” it added.
Last month, another British carrier, Virgin Atlantic, announced it will suspend its last remaining route between the U.K. and China, connecting London and Shanghai, also from Oct. 26.
Groups such as Lufthansa have said competition from Chinese carriers, which are allowed to fly over Russian airspace, has cut into their earnings, with Lufthansa’s yields falling on routes on which it competes with the carriers.
IAG has said that it is not strongly affected as much of its core business is focused on North and South America, where bookings and demand remain strong.
The British Airways suspension will initially last until November 2025, after which the airline said it will review resuming the route.
