British Airways to axe Beijing flights after summer

Lama temple in Beijing, China on a misty morning

The airline will halt flights to China’s capital at the end of the summer travel season

British Airways will temporarily cease flights to Beijing as of 26 October, attributing its decision to the increasing cost of avoiding Russian airspace.

Customers affected will be given the opportunity to rebook later or receive a full refund.

The decision comes after Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin, made the call to shut off UK carriers from Russian airspace.

Virgin Atlantic has also recently opted to scrap services to Shanghai, starting from October, due to cost inefficiency. A Virgin spokesperson commented: “Significant challenges and complexities on this route have contributed to the commercial decision to suspend flying to Shanghai.”

Flights to Beijing were resumed by BA in 2023, but demand was “weak”, the airline’s CFO Nicholas Cadbury told investors in a recent conference call.

Moving forward, the airline said Beijing flights would be halted until November 2025 but will remain under review.

BA is also dropping one of its two daily Hong Kong flights but will continue to fly daily to Shanghai.