British Airways is halting direct flights to Beijing from October 26 2024 until November 2025 amid a Russian airspace ban on European carriers.
European carriers are greatly struggling with the ban on flying over the Russian airspace since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The airline owned by IAG are unable to fly over the Russian airspace which means now flying to Asia takes a few hours longer, sparking a wave of disapproval from the customers who find newer routes more expensive and less appealing.
IAG said that the decision is not strongly affecting its core business which is focused in North and South America, where bookings remain on the rise.
The most used airline, British airways, who happily announced the inauguration of the Beijing route just a year after a pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has now seen a yet another unfortunate ban on the route.
Heathrow to Beijing happened to be the airline's most important routes but in a call with investors last month, Nicholas Cadbury, the chief financial officer of BA's parent company LAG, said it faced weak demand in China.
The airline is dropping Beijing flights and one of its two daily flights to Hong Kong as well but will continue flying to Shanghai.
It is pertinent to mention that last month Virgin Atlantic too planned to cancel its flights from Shanghai, its only destination in China, from October 2024.
