On Thursday, Virgin Atlantic announced plans to relaunch services to Shanghai, which will begin next week.
Starting on May 1, the carrier will resume daily services from London Heathrow for both passenger and cargo operations.
This comes following China’s continued reopening of the country post-COVID.
Services will be operated by Virgin Atlantic’s flagship Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, and it has been keen to note the recent membership into SkyTeam through China Eastern in Shanghai.
Shanghai Restart Major Milestone for Virgin Atlantic…
Commenting on the route restart was Juha Jarvinen, Virgin Atlantic’s Chief Commercial Officer, who said:
“The restart of our services to Shanghai is a major milestone for Virgin Atlantic.”
“Shanghai was the first of our routes to be suspended in 2020 at the start of the global pandemic and the last to return, making it the final piece to restore our flying program to full capacity.
“After such a long hiatus, we’re looking forward to welcoming our customers back to Shanghai and providing vital links to one of the UK’s largest trading partners for both passenger and cargo services.”
Remnants of COVID Still Lingering Within China…
Despite China opening up the country further, passengers who use the Heathrow-Shanghai service with Virgin Atlantic next week will still need to show proof of a negative PCR test alongside a health declaration form.
However, the return to China will be welcome news for Virgin Atlantic, especially as they continue to expand services for the Summer 2023 season.
Services to Tel Aviv have doubled, and new routes to the Maldives, as well as to Turks & Caicos, are also on the way too.
What remains clear is that Virgin Atlantic continues to press ahead with overall growth and is happy to restart markets on a larger scale too.
But for now, all eyes are on the carrier to see how the route restart will go.
